*tV C/^ o t///>iK\\>r ^> C-/j. o M//>bC<\Vw ■ClV C/a '^ '7// «» wr a. »Y" i '*^' " 







'=\.^^ 



'.* .^^ ■■=*■ 



"vV 0°^.:^^'.% ^°^i;^^% <f.^\':^'o^<^. 



< 



•<^ 









c5 ^ 



<. 






"^^o^ 



./ 



<H a. 



- <H Q 



C> *y 






N*^ °- =; 



%/• 






' » (. s 



«:i %> 




^^c^ 



Q. %. 







-0.^0,.-^^^^ ^ '""^■'a^ 9x ^o,x- 






v^ 











^-^ V™\/ V^o^^^\/ v^£^^\/ < 








', 'Si 



^-r^ w » A \ y rv . u o ,v 



"^- .^ 









0^ 






-^ 1. oils " ♦'^ ^ ^ ^i#2 " .=> ^ 






/^- ^ 







«^^^ '. 

^ v- % 






"i 

./ '*<^ 




YALE 



HER HONOR-ROLL 



AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



1775-1783 



INCLUDING ORIGINAL LETTERS, RECORD OF SERVICE, AND 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



HENRY P^ JOHNSTON 




NEW YORK 

PRIVATELY PRINTED 

1888 



ET^i 



V 



0. 



7l 



COPYRIGHT BY 

HENRY P. JOHNSTON 



Press of 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York 



S'^ L 




iy 



PREFACE. 



'"^Any one familiar with the personal history of the 
leaders of the Revolution must have remarked upon 
the large representation of college-bred men among 
\. them. 

This was not only a suggestive fact in the experi- 
ence of a provincial population, but in part explains 
the method and reasonableness of the revolutionary 
movement itself. No similar revolt in history was 
grounded less in bitterness and hate, or developed 
more naturally from discussion and conviction. As 
the public controversy — the issue in documentary 
form — turned upon the constitutional relation of the 
colonies to the mother country, it required a certain 
amount of general learning and familiarity with colo- 
nial history to engage in it intelligently. The ques- 
tion appealed to the educated and professional 
element, which included not only lawyers, ministers 
and orators, but many merchants as well whos^ dis- 
gust at England's restrictive commercial policy in- 
tensified their opposition. The speeches in assem- 
blies and town-meetings, the sermons and pamphlets 



iv Preface. 

on the issues of the day, the petitions and protests 
which British statesmen admired for their dignity 
and breadth of views, were in many, probably in most 
instances, the efforts and product of trained minds. 
" The colleges of the day could count among their alumni 
such men as Otis, Warren, Hancock, the Adamses, 
Hawley, Trumbull, Wolcott, Jay, the Livingstons and 
Morrises, Hopkinson, Rush, Jefferson, Harrison, 
Gerry, Wythe, Lyman Hall, and others whose 
names are interwoven with the history of that period. 
Their influence in the earlier and more important 
Congresses is indicated in the fact that very nearly 
one half of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence were graduates. 

The colonist was proud of such leadership. It 
proved the wisdom of his policy in encouraging edu- 
cation, especially the higher education, from an early 
date. The nine colleges he had founded before the 
Revolution were : Harvard in 1636 ; William and 
Mary, 1693 ; Yale, 1701 ; Princeton, 1746; Columbia, 
1754; University of Pennsylvania, 1755; Brown, 
1765; Dartmouth, 1769; and Rutgers, 1770. The 
aggregate number of their alumni living at the out- 
break of the war was about two thousand five hundred, 
which may be regarded as a fair proportion of the 
population in those colonies which supported the 
colleges ; and they had their full weight in the com- 
munity, for in addition to those who took a dis- 



Preface, v 

tinguished part in the larger political field, others 
became judges, legislators and governors, and filled 
many of the minor civil offices. 

As a revolutionary soldier, the graduate is less 
familiar to us. That he made a notable record, 
however, is quite certain, and its revival would not 
only be a happy act of remembrance, but the material 
itself a valuable contribution to the personal history 
of those times. All the colleges were represented in 
the field, and in larger numbers than they are gener- 
ally credited with. The four oldest in the list, having 
many more graduates and graduates of longer stand- 
ing than the rest, were conspicuously represented. 

There was somethino- in the aim and couraofe of 
those alumni " Continentals " we cannot very gracious- 
ly forget. Not only could they shout as vigorously 
against the Stamp Act and talk of their rights as 
earnestly as any others, but they clearly foresaw that 
if the sword were once drawn, it would not be simply 
to decide the limit of ministerial or parliamentary 
authority, or even to establish their independence as 
the only remedy of their wrongs. It is remarkable 
how, after the fighting began, the colonists as a body 
lost sight of the original issue and dropped all thought 
of returning to their former allegiance. They were 
looking to the future. We may say that they fought 
in the line of destiny. What sustained them through 
the struggle was largely the inherited conviction that 



vi Preface. 

though nominally or politically they were subjects of 
Great Britain, in another sense and in a more natural 
way they were the true proprietors of the soil and 
founders of new communities whose prospective as 
well as immediate interests it was their first duty to 
consult. 

In the case of that portion of the revolutionary 
soldiery to which the writer's attention has been called 
in the present work, it may be stated that with few 
exceptions the graduates were descendants of fami- 
lies which came to this country before the year 1690. 
At the opening of the war they represented the 
fourth, fifth, and sixth generation from the first immi- 
grant, and were members of what might be called 
the patrician element in colonial society. It was the 
element which instinctively considered itself entitled 
to the control of the continent, as against the mother 
country, in all matters of vital concern. The best 
men among them kept referring to the possibilities 
of the future as being theirs to mark out and develop ; 
such men, for example, as Dr. Stiles, who both be- 
fore and after he became President of Yale impressed 
this idea of destiny upon his hearers, or such men 
as Dr. Dwight, who when tutor at the college deliv- 
ered an address to the students in 1776, in which he 
reminded them of the wide field and the great duties 
before them. " Remember," he said, " that you are 
to act for the empire of America, and for a long sue- 



Preface. vii 

cession of ages. . . . Yourwishes, your designs, your 
labors are not to be confined by the narrow bounds 
of the present age, but are to comprehend succeed- 
ing generations." The graduate of '76 and men like 
him took up the sword for the new America. Deep- 
ly interested in the movement for himself, he also had 
a sense of the greatness his descendants would enjoy 
through his efforts, which in turn places us under a 
very real and personal obligation to him. 

In the following pages I have ventured to compile 
this missing record, so far as Yale's part is concerned. 
An examination, at intervals of leisure, of manuscripts 
and printed material has been more or less successful, 
furnishing at least sufficient facts for something in the 
way of a memorial. The first part includes an out- 
line of the operations in each year of the war, showing 
the situation wherever graduates were present, and 
in connection with which some original letters written 
by them from field and camp are inserted. In the 
second part will be found the Roll of Honor, or list of 
all known to have been engaged during the war, with 
biographical sketches added. Authorities and sources 
of information are indicated in foot-notes, and in 
an introductory note to the second part. I am under 
obligations to librarians and others for assistance, but 
especially to Prof. Franklin B. Dexter, Secretary of 
the University and Professor of American History, 
who has favored me with many data ; Dr. Samuel 



Vlll 



Preface. 



A. Green, Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, Hon. Charles J. Hoadley, Librarian of the 
State Library, Hartford, Conn., and Mr. William 
Kelby, of the New York Historical Society Library. 

New York City, 

January, i888. 





CONTENTS. 



I. Preface iii 

II. Distribution of the Alumni in 1775 . i 

III. Events in 1775-76. 

The Alarm at the College — Young Huntington — Chipman's 
Epic — Washington and the Students' Company — Noah 
Webster — Graduates in the General Uprising — Bunker Hill 
— Letters from Chester, Grosvenor, Sherman — Dr. Stiles in 
Camp — Ticonderoga and Quebec — Wooster, Brown, Coit, 
Babcock — Boston Evacuated — Col. Gay .... 8 

IV. Events in 1776-77. 

The New York Campaign — List of Alumni Soldiers — 
Declaration of Independence — Joseph Hawley — Battle of 
Long Island — Colonel Silliman — Retreat to New York — 
Tallmadge's Account of It — Loss of New York — Nathan 
Hale — Bushnell's Torpedo — White Plains — Trenton and 
Princeton — Letter from Capt. Hull — Hitchcock's Gallant 
Conduct — Death of Graduate Officers .... 36 

V. Events in 1777-78. 

The New Continental Army — Graduates in Its Ranks — The 
Danbury Raid and Death of General Wooster — Events in 
Pennsylvania — Battle of Germantown — Lieut. Morris, Pris- 
oner — The Burgoyne Campaign — Graduates Engaged — Let- 
ters from Gen. Wolcott and Capt. Seymour — Col. Brown's 
Exploit — The Surrender — Washington's Congratulations — 
Letters from Gens. Scott and Silliman .... 64 

VI. Events in 1778-79. 

Valley Forge and Its Discipline — General Paterson — Alumni 
in Camp — Letters from Lieuts. Chipman and Selden — Devo- 
tion of the Army to Washington — The French Alliance — 
General Scott to Gates — Battle of Monmouth — Camp at 



Contents, 



PAGE 



White Plains — Battle of Rhode Island — Notice from the 
College Steward ........ 83 

VII. Events in 1779-80. 

Short Commons at College — Letters from Commis- 
sary Colt — Yale Loyalists — General Silliman and Judge 
Jones — Storming of Stony Point — Sherman, Hull, Selden — 
Invasion of New Haven — Ex-President Daggett and the 
Students — Major Huntington Complimented — Death of 
Col. Russell 94 

VIII. Events in 1780-81. 

The Morristown Huts — Severe Winter of 1780 — Letters 
from Major Huntington, Commissary Flint, and Others- 
Battle of Springfield, N. J. — David Humphreys, Aid to 
Washington — Letters from Gov. Livingston and Gen. 
Paterson — Dr. Stiles in the French Camp — Death of Col. 
Brown — Major Tallmadge and His Services — Letter on 
Andre — Humphreys' Attempt on Clinton — Lieut.-Col. 
Gray ii2 

IX. Events in 1781-82. 

Situation at the North — Colonel Hull's Affair at the Out- 
posts—Lafayette's Virginia Expedition — Major Wyllys — 
Letters from Capt. Welles and Others — The Yorktown Cam- 
paign — Graduate Officers at the Siege — Humphreys and the 
Captured Flags — Rejoicings — President Stiles to Washing- 
ton 129 

X. Events in 1782-83: 

Peace Negotiations — Military Affairs — Letters from Welles, 
Wyllys, and Silliman — Tallmadge's Third Attempt on Long 
Island — The Major's Report and Washington's Reply — 
Letters from Sill and Humphreys — Evacuation of New 
York by the Enemy — Disbandment of the Revolutionary 
Army — Letter from Hull ....... 141 

XI. Washington. 

Humphreys' Visit to Mt. Vernon in 1786 — Letter to His 
Brother — Is Urged to Write a History of the Revolution — 
Personal Items — The " Father of his Country " at Home — 
President Dwight's Eulogy on Washington — An Estimate of 
His Character — Personal Qualities, Riblic Conduct, Mili- 
tary Talents, and Place in History . . . . . ^53 



Contents. 



XI 



XII. Majors Wyllys and Heart. 



In the Regular Army — Wyllys, Senior Major — Stationed in 
the Ohio Country — Recommended for a Colonelcy — Letter 
from Harmar — First Indian War — Harmar's Defeat, and 
Death of Wyllys — Letters — Heart Promoted Major of the 
Second Regiment — St. Clair's Defeat and Death of Heart . 



XIII. Roll of Honor, 

Sketches . 

XIV. Index . 



with Biographical 



163 

177 
351 




DISTRIBUTION OF THE ALUMNI 
IN 1775. 

/ Of the nine hundred or more Yale graduates 
known to have been living in 1775, much the larger 
proportion, approximately two thirds, resided in the 
colony of Connecticut, the home of the college. The 
remainder were distributed throughout Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey, with a 
limited number scattered at widely distant points 

..^north and south. 

In Connecticut the college exerted an appreciable 
influence. Dr. Benjamin Trumbull recognizes this 
fact in his history of the colony, where he states that 
as early as 1743 the alumni constituted a " numerous 
and respectable " body, and adds, somewhat flatter- 
ingly, that not a few had become "pillars" and "stars 
of distinguished lustre " in both church and common- 
wealth ; and this may be accepted as equally true in 
1775, when the relative increase of graduates had 
very nearly kept pace with that of the population. 
It may be doubted, indeed, whether at any time, be- 
fore or since, the college has filled so large a place in 
the eye of the community at home as during the 
period of the Revolution. 



2 Yale in the Revolution, 

The crisis itself would partially explain this, so far 
as it called upon men of acknowledged ability, integ- 
rity, and public spirit to engage in the management 
of affairs ; for it happened that an exceptional num- 
ber of the alumni then living throughout the principal 
towns were citizens of this stamp. Events gave them 
increased prominence. But a further explanation 
may be sought in the relation of the graduate to the 
society of the time, in which the professions as such 
had not assumed their modern importance. While 
the pulpit, it is true, was a power in itself, neither 
law nor medicine were the attractions then that 
they are to-day. Apart from the ministers who 
often attended the sick in their parishes, com- 
paratively few graduates became physicians, de- 
voting themselves exclusively to their calling ; nor 
were many more lawyers, or regularly entered "bar- 
risters at law" as they were styled, as litigation 
appears not to have been as general or lucrative 
as in the period after the Revolution. College 
men, accordingly, more frequently then than now, 
dropped into the active life of the community, 
sometimes combining business with a profession. 
They kept stores, cultivated farms, acted as agents, 
owned ships and traded along the coast and with 
the West Indies. The lay graduate of that day, 
being less the professional man than increasing 
wealth and diversity of interests have enabled him to 
become in later times, engaged in every honorable 
occupation, and wherever he established himself per- 
manently he exercised a certain neighborhood in- 
fluence, which, in numerous instances, is known to 



The Ahtmni in 1775. 3 

have been neither slight nor transient. Sometimes 
he became the local dignitary as probate judge or 
colonel of militia, again as town clerk and justice 
of the peace, or, perhaps, more often than not, he 
was moderator of the town-meeting, or chief spokes- 
man on town affairs. When, finally, the war came, 
his views and example had weight. 

As illustrating the influence and distinction, ac- 
corded to the college element in the State, it may be (^C^tvtw^"* 
noticed that while the honored governor, Jonathan 
Trumbull, was a graduate of Harvard, the house of 
" Assistants," a body of twelve eminent citizens elected 
at large, contained in 1775 eight Yale graduates. 
The secretary of state, one of the five superior court 
judges, all the county court and many of the probate 
judges were also graduates. So also were several of 
the prominent members of the General Assembly, fre- 
quently the Speaker, nearly one half the field officers 
of the militia for 1774-75, a majority of the impor- 
tant State revolutionary Council of Safety, and six of 
the twelve members who at different times, from 1 775 
to 1 783, attended the Continental Congress at Phila- 
delphia. At the beginning of the struggle graduates 
took the lead in the principal town and county war 
meetings, in some cases presiding over them, as 
at New Haven, Hartford, New London, Norwich, 
Windham, and Lyme, and in other cases acting on 
the committees of correspondence ; while during the 
progress of the contest it is to be remarked how fre- 
quently they figured on legislative committees charged 
with the active and responsible duties of the hour. 

In Massachusetts, the Yale representation, was to 



4 Yale in the Revolution. 

be found mainly in the central and western parts of 
the State, in Hampshire and Berkshire counties, in 
the towns of Springfield, Westfield, Pittsfield, North- 
ampton, Stockbridge, Lenox, and neighboring places. 
The tide of emigration, or removals, had been setting 
in that direction for some years before the Revolution, 
and graduates, with others, sought the advantages of 
new localities. Several of the Ashleys and the Wil- 
liamses named in the triennial catalogue lived in that 
section, as well as Hawley, Hopkins, Brown, Dickin- 
son, Sedgwick, and Paterson, who will reappear in the 
military record. Including the few who resided in 
Eastern Massachusetts there were at that time not 
far from one hundred and seventy of the alumni in 
the State. The great majority of these were in the 
fullest sympathy with the course of events, and some, 
like Joseph Hawley, of whom further mention must 
be made, proved towers of strength. Their influence 
in Berkshire was not inconsiderable if one may judge 
from the fact that at the important county convention 
held in July, 1774, for the declaration of views on 
the crisis, the chairman, secretary, and three of the 
five members of the committee to draft the resolu- 
tions, were graduates. What is more, they followed 
up their patriotic expressions with active service in 
the field. 

In Rhode Island the number of graduates at that 
period was small, probably not more than twenty, 
three or four of whom entered the military service. 
Three attained some distinction at home in earlier 
years or during the war as deputy-governors, namely, 
Darius Sessions, Paul Mumford and Jabez Bowen. 



The Alumni in 1775, 5 

/Of the soldiers two were colonels. The most prom- 
inent graduates there in 1775 were Hon. Joshua 
Babcock, formerly Chief-Justice of Rhode Island, and 
Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles, Congregational pastor at New- 
port, who was to become president of Yale in 1778. 

In New York we meet with some names that are 
closely identified with the history of the colony and 

^ the State. ,' Our earliest graduate here, and the 
earliest lay graduate from any college, was William 
Smith, of the class of 1719, who became the first of 
the many distinguished lawyers who have adorned 
the bar of New York City from that day to this. By 
his contemporaries he is described as a man of pro- 
found learning, unimpeachable character and " the 
most eloquent speaker in the province." At the time 
of his death in 1 769 he was one of the judges of the 
supreme court. That he kept up a warm interest in 
the college would appear from the statement made 
by his son, Judge William Smith, of the class of 1745, 
the historian, that it was upon his recommendation 
that Philip Livingston, the second proprietor of the 
manor on the Hudson by his name, was induced to 
send his sons to the " Academy " at New Haven. 
These four Livingston brothers, Peter Van Brugh, 
John, Philip, and William, with some others, continued 
the succession of Yale graduates in the city down to 
the war. The first three became merchants, the 
last a lawyer. Peter was president and treasurer 
of the first New York Provincial Congress. Philip 
and William were sent as delegates to the Con- 
tinental Congress. Philip signed the Declaration 
of Independence, and William, moving into New 



r 



6 Yale in the Revolution. 

Jersey, became the "war governor" of that State. 
Richard and Lewis Morris, John Sloss Hobart, and 
Ezra L'Hommedieu went to Congress or became 
judges. Another name is that of John Morin Scott, 
an eminent advocate, who threw himself heartily into 
the cause. Chancellor Kent, who was to keep up the 
college representation in legal circles in New York 
after the war, speaks of him as " one of that band of 
deep-read and thorough lawyers of the old school, who 
were an ornament to the city at the commencement 
of the Revolution." In all there were about seventy 
graduates in the State in 1775, most of whom lived in 
the city or on Long Island. As a body they suffered 
from the war more than any others. Philip Living- 
ston, Lewis Morris, and Scott, were nearly ruined — 
their fine mansions and estates, in or near the city, 
being confiscated and despoiled by the enemy. The 
house of Dr. John A. Graham, class of 1768, was 
burned by the British after the battle at White Plains. 
Some were fugitives from their homes during the 
entire contest ; and some were Tories who will be 
briefly noticed in the operations of 1779. 

In New Jersey we had about twenty graduates, 
several of whom were settled pastors. Three or four 
of the younger alumni were prospecting in Wyoming 
Valley, Westmoreland County, Penn., which Con- 
necticut then claimed as her territory. Others were 
to be found in the tracts which afterwards became 
the States of New Hampshire and Vermont. Lyman 
Hall, the " Signer," had made his home in Liberty 
County, Georgia. Very few, if any, were then living in 
either Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, or the Carolinas. 



The AUtmni in 1775. 7 

^' The college in 1775 numbered one hundred and 
/ sixty-four students, who graduated with their respec-. 
\ tive classes. .Rev. Dr. Naphtali Daggett was Presi- 
dent and Professor of Divinity ; Rev. Nehemiah 
Strong, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Phi- 
losophy. Timothy Dwight, Joseph Buckminster, 
Abraham Baldwin, and John Lewis were Tutors, the 
first three of whom subsequently became chaplains 
in the army. Three buildings were then standing on 
the grounds, two of which remain to-day — old 
South Middle and the Athenaeum, which served both 
as a chapel and a library. 

These graduates and students, we may repeat, were 
typical colonists. Barring the few who were either 
avowed loyalists or assumed a neutral attitude where 
they could, they belonged to the class which formed 
the soul of the Revolution. Most of them doubtless 
felt with Dr. Stiles in July, 1774, that : " If oppression 
proceeds, despotism may force an annual Congress ; 
and a public spirit of enterprise may originate an 
American Magna Charta and Bill of Rights, supported 
by such intrepid and persevering importunity as even 
sovereignty may hereafter judge it not wise to with- 
stand. There will be a Runnymede in America." 




■fiTSTT 



EVENTS IN 1775-76. 

The Alarm at the College — Young Huntington — Chipman's Epic — Washington 
and the Students' Company — Noah Webster — Graduates in the General 
Uprising — Bunker Hill — Letters from Chester, Grosvenor, Sherman — 
Dr. Stiles in Camp — Ticonderoga and Quebec — Wooster, Brown, Coit, 
Babcock — Boston Evacuated — Col. Gay. 

Turning first to the college, when the war opened, 
we are quite prepared to find that little community 
as deeply agitated as any other, and responding as 
quickly to the popular sympathies. There is this 
reference to the situation in the journal of one of the 
students, which expresses much : 

" Friday. April 21, . To-day tidings of the battle of Lex- 
ington, which is the first engagement with the British troops, ar- 
rived at New Haven. This filled the country with alarm and 
rendered it impossible for us to pursue our studies to any profit." 

The student was Ebenezer Fitch, of the Sophomore 
class, who was to become the first president of Wil- 
liams College. It is fortunate for our purposes that 
his journal has been preserved, as the extract quoted 
appears to be, with an item in the diary of President 
Stiles, the only contemporary record we have of the 
effect produced by the Lexington news at Yale. And 
startling news it was, no doubt. One may readily 
picture the scene of excitement around the old halls 
that evening as the students and townsmen alike 
dwelt upon the details of the encounter and can- 
vassed the probability of having a war at their very 

8 



Events in 1775-76. 9 

doors. What shows that they were all profoundly 
moved, is the fact that on the next day class exercises 
were suspended and college "broke up." The stu- 
dious Fitch himself could not keep to his books, but 
went home to Canterbury, and soon after visited the 
camps then forming around Boston. It was not 
until June ist that he returned to college.' So too, 
Ezra Stiles, of the same class, surprised his father at 
Newport, by arriving on the 26th with word that 
the students were dispersing.^ Clearly, with drums 
beating, rumors flying, and serious speculation going 
on over the consequences of a general conflict with 
the mother country, there could be little attentive 
studying for a time. It was something more than an 
ephemeral excitement or interruption. Three or four 
of the students, as tradition goes, closed their studies 
at once and fell into the line of volunteers marching 
northward. It is certain that Ebenezer Huntington 
of the Senior class was one. His father, the Hon. 
Jabez Huntington, of the class of 1741, then a mem- 
ber of the Upper House of Connecticut, and his elder 
brother, Jedidiah, graduate of Harvard, and after- 
wards general in the Continental army, had both 
stepped forward unhesitatingly in the earlier stages of 
the crisis, which may go to explain young Ebenezer's 
enthusiasm. The tradition in his case, sufficiently 
supported by the record, is to the effect that failing 
to obtain permission from the college authorities to 

'From the diary in "Sketch of the late Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, D.D.," by 
Rev. Calvin Durfee, Boston, 1865. 

^ Dr. Stiles, in his diary for April 26, 1775, Newport: "About sunset 
Ezra arrived from Yale College, which broke up last Saturday. The news of 
Lexington reached New Haven on Friday night." 



lo Yale in the Revolution. 

leave immediately, he decamped that Friday night 
with some of his companions, went to Wethersfield, 
and then pushed on to the front at Boston, where he 
found his brother before him. His own home was at 
Norwich, but at Wethersfield lived his brother-in-law, 
John Chester, class of 1766, captain of an alarm com- 
pany, and of whom we shall presently hear again, 
which would account for his hurrying directly to 
that town. While the faculty were evidently dis- 
pleased at this breach of discipline, they could not 
but have quietly admired his prompt decision in the 
case, especially when we recall that the patriotic 
Daggett was then president, and at the graduation of 
his class they gave him his diploma ; so that Hunt- 
ington's name appears both upon the college catalogue 
and upon the roster of those officers who served un- 
interruptedly and with honor from the beginning to 
the close of the war. 

The names of the other irrepressible students, who 
are said to have been Huntington's companions in 
his flight, do not appear. That class of '75 furnished 
some fine young officers for the army, several of 
whom began their service on graduation. Belden, 
Bushnell, Daggett, Judson, Mix, Morris, Peck, Sill, 
and Welles became old campaigners, and it is possi- 
ble that one or more of them left with Huntington 
in April, and then returned to graduate in regular 
course. Daniel Lyman, of the Junior class, may 
also have been among the number, as, according to 
recollections in his family, he joined the expedition 
against Ticonderoga, in May, and was engaged in the 
surprise of that important fortress. But in those first 



Rvents in 1775-76. n 

days of alarm and muster we will remember all the 
students — the great body of them, certainly — as 
spirited and true, without distinction. If preference 
is to be given to any one of them, as being bolder 
than the rest, it should be perhaps to the Sophomore, 
Nathaniel Chipman, Vermont's future Chief-Justice, 
who dared to fan the flame of resistance by writing 
some martial poetry, and publishing it in the town 
newspaper. An extract from it must have a place 

here : 

" America, where freedom held her reign, 
Now first is doomed to wear the galling chain. 
Oppressed, she groans beneath a lawless power, 
And quakes to hear the gathering tempest roar. 
Rise ! sons of freedom ! close the glorious fight, 
Stand for religion, for your country's right. 
Resist the tyrant, disappoint his hopes, 
Fear not his navies, or his veteran troops. 
Think on those heroes who resigned their breath 
To tools of tyrants, ministers of death. 
Who firm, the rage of tyranny withstood, 
And seal'd the cause of liberty with blood. 
Let their example patriot zeal inspire. 
And every breast with martial ardor fire. 
O Heaven ! be gracious ; save our sinking land. 
Crush our proud foes with thine avenging hand." ' 

By the first of June, the students had generally re- 
turned to the college, their war spirit evidently still 
high. One of their number, Abiathar Camp, show- 
ing Tory proclivities, was made the subject of a class 
meeting, and denounced as an " enemy to his coun- 
try," which meant that all social intercourse with him 
was to be withheld. Meantime many of them fell to 

1 " Life of Hon. Nathaniel Chipman, LL.D.," Boston, 1846. 



12 Yale in the Revolution. 

drilling. A company was organized, either then or 
at an earlier date, which soon attracted attention by- 
its military bearing. Who the members or who the 
officers were we do not know, but either among the 
drummers or fifers one would have seen, upon his 
own statement, a Freshman by the name of Noah 
Webster. Stout young Whigs, as nearly all these 
collegians were, and not a few of them the sons of 
public leaders in the colony, they seem to have an- 
ticipated a protracted struggle and the necessity of 
their own participation in it at no distant day. It 
requires no effort of the imagination to picture them, 
dressed in the long coat of the period, knee breeches, 
and cocked hats, and armed with weighty flint-lock 
muskets, marching up and down the campus with the 
air of veterans and a buoyant confidence that they 
could at least defend that favored spot against the 
king's minions. 

One event soon occurred which must have been 
long remembered, and perhaps settled the course of 
some of the graduating class who may have wavered 
as to their duty to join the army. This was Wash- 
ington's presence in the town, June 28th, for the first 
time as the American Commander-in-Chief, when the 
college company and the two local companies turned 
out to do him the honors of the occasion. The New 
Haven journal of the day, noticing the troops and the 
throng of people who were out, mentions in particu- 
lar "■ a company of young gentlemen belonging to the 
seminary in this place, who made a handsome appear- 
ance, and whose expertness in the military exercises 
gained them the approbation of the generals " ; but a 



Events in 1775-76. 13 

more satisfactory account is the following, which 
Noah Webster himself gave some years later in an 
address before a gathering of young people : 

"In the year 1775 General Washington passed through New 
Haven on his way to Cambridge in Massachusetts, to take com- 
mand of the American army. He was accompanied by General 
Charles Lee, who had been an officer in the British service. 
These gentlemen lodged in New Haven at the house of the late 
Isaac Beers, and in the morning they were invited to see a mili- 
tary company of students of Yale College perform their manual 
exercises. They expressed their surprise and gratification at the 
precision with which the students performed the customary exer- 
cises then in use. This company then escorted the generals as 
far as Neck Bridge ; and this was the first instance of that honor 
conferred on General Washington in New England. It fell to my 
humble lot to lead this company with music. I was then a Fresh- 
man in Yale College." * 

The day's incidents proved a pleasant reminiscence 
for both town and college, and doubtless for Wash- 
ington, but the impression upon his memory would 
have been more vivid could he have then known that 
of the youthful students whom he saw that morning, 
more than forty were, sooner or later, to join his Con- 
tinentals, and most of them pass with him through all 
the varied experiences of the war. 

Of the college company we hear occasionally after 
this. At a New Haven town meeting, held Novem- 
ber 5, 1775, it was voted " That the Governor be de- 
sired to permit one hundred stands of arms to be 
lodged in the library for the use of a company in 
Yale College " ; and again, " That should a company 
in college be formed and accoutred, they draw half a 

' From the original MSS. in possession of Paul L. Ford, Brooklyn, L. I. 
The Beers' house stood on the site of the present New Haven House. 



14 Yale in the Revolution. 

pound of powder to each man." This action would 
indicate that the company which Washington re- 
viewed had broken up in the fall, owing probably to 
the graduation of the class of 1775 ; but as New 
Haven was an exposed place, some sort of an organi- 
zation was kept up, and in 1779 the students will be 
heard from again. 

Beyond the college, there was the general uprising. 
The Lexington alarm prompted a spontaneous march 
of trainbands and volunteers from all points to the 
help of the Massachusetts people. " Our neighbor- 
ing towns," writes some one, " are arming and mov- 
ing. Men of the first character and property shoulder 
their arms and march off for the field of action." 
College graduates were among them, and in respecta- 
ble numbers, — the number increasing during the sum- 
mer and fall as war became an accepted fact. Of 
the Yale alumni, John Paterson, class of 1762, was 
very early at the front. He lived at Lenox, Mass., 
was a member of the provincial Congress, then tem- 
porarily adjourned, and commanded a regiment of 
Berkshire County militia. The alarm reached Lenox 
on the evening of the 20th, and early the next morn- 
ing the regiment was on the march. It took post 
about a mile and a half beyond Cambridge, and 
threw up one of the first redoubts on the line which 
was to turn Boston into a besieged town. Moses 
Ashley, class of 1 767, was an ensign in the same regi- 
ment ; and Rev. David Avery, class of 1 769, chap- 
lain. Another militia regiment of Worcester and 
Hampshire County men, stationed at Roxbury, was 
commanded by Col. Timothy Danielson, of the class 



Events in 1775-6. 15 

of 1756. When the alarm reached Wethersfield, 
Conn., John Chester, class of 1766, already men- 
tioned, started off at the head of a fine company of 
one hundred young men, equipped by the town with 
twenty days' provision and sixty-four rounds of am- 
munition each. From New Haven, Jesse Leaven- 
worth, class of 1759, went as lieutenant of volunteers, 
under Benedict Arnold. Jabez Hamlin, class of 1769, 
was ensign of Captain Meigs' Middletown train-band. 
Isaac Sherman, class of 1770, son of Roger Sherman, 
the "Signer," commanded a Massachusetts company. 
Ebenezer Moseley, class of 1763, led a company 
formed of "the Gentlemen Inhabitants of Canada 
Society, in Windham County, Conn., to the number 
of sixty able-bodied, effective men," who engaged 
" immediately to equip themselves with arms and war- 
like stores, and be in readiness to march against and 
oppose any enemy that may attempt the destruction 
of our lawful rights." 

Presently, as better organization became necessary, 
we get more complete records and more names. 
Connecticut raised several regiments to serve for the 
year at different points. David Wooster, of the class 
of 1738, a name closely associated with New Haven 
in Wooster Street and Wooster Square, and more 
closely associated with the names of revolutionary 
heroes in his brave death in 1777, was made a general 
of militia with a regiment also under his personal 
command. During the summer of 1775 he was 
posted at and near New York, where upon his arrival 
he was entertained by the City Military Club with a 
public dinner. In June Congress made him a Con- 



1 6 Yale in the Revolution. 

tinental brigadier, and in September he joined the 
Northern Department, where he had served in the 
French and Indian War. Among graduates in his 
command were Lieut. Jesse Leavenworth, who had 
returned from Massachusetts, Lieut. Robert Walker, 
James Lockwood, Chaplains Cotton Mather Smith 
and Benjamin Trumbull, and Surgeons Jared Potter 
and Samuel Whiting. The greater part of the Con- 
necticut troops, however, were sent to the Boston 
lines, where before the close of the siege in March, 
1776, there might have been found, in addition to 
the officers already mentioned, such others as Colonel 
Samuel Wyllys ; Lieut-Colonels Experience Storrs 
and Fisher Gay; Brigade-Major John Palsgrave 
Wyllys ; Captains William Coit, William Hull, 
Nathan Hale, the " Martyr Spy," Ebenezer Craft, and 
Theophilus Munson ; Lieutenants Thomas Grosvenor, 
Andrew Hillyer, Richard Sill, Ebenezer Huntington, 
Simeon Newell, Ebenezer Gray, William Peck, John 
Elderkin, Enoch and Joshua Lamb Woodbridge ; En- 
signs Jonathan Heart and Ezra Selden ; Chaplains 
John Cleaveland, Benjamin Boardman, Stephen John- 
son, Oliver Noble, and William Plumbe ; and Surgeon 
Josiah Hart. Three graduates from Rhode Island 
were Colonels Daniel Hitchcock and Henry Babcock, 
and Lieut.-Colonel James Babcock. This list is neces- 
sarily incomplete, as the rolls of several regiments 
and companies which encamped around Boston at dif- 
ferent times during the siege do not exist ; but there 
cannot be many names missing. The college may be 
said to have been represented by fifty-five or more 
graduates at Boston and other points in the opera- 
tions of the year 1775. 



Events i7i 1775-76. 17 

After Lexington, the signal events of the year were 
the capture of Ticonderoga, the battle of Bunker 
Hill, and the attempt upon Quebec. Bunker Hill 
claims attention first as the natural conclusion of 
Lexington. It was towards Boston that the New 
England provincials hurried to prevent the repetition 
of incursions, and they hemmed the British in by 
blockading the highways and fortifying the country 
around. On the night of June i6th, Putnam and 
Prescott pushed matters to an issue by fortifying the 
hill above Charlestown, and on the following day, 
the 1 7th, occurred the historic battle. The American 
line of defence consisted of a redoubt on the hill, 
with breastworks, barricades, and a post-and-rail 
fence on the left. 

Six or more of our graduates took part in this bat- 
tle, all of them belonging to the Connecticut detach- 
ment, which is credited with particularly good con- 
duct on that day. They were Captains John Ches- 
ter, William Coit, and Ebenezer Mosely, Lieutenants 
Thomas Grosvenor and (probably) Ebenezer Gray, 
and Jonathan Heart, whom tradition puts there as a 
private soldier. Their position was at the breastwork 
and rail-fence, where, as all accounts agree, a stout 
resistance was made. It was a good test of their 
resolution and their nerves — to face the disciplined 
redcoats as they moved up the hill in deep lines, — 
and all the provincials concerned were justly praised 
for fighting so well before retreating. Lieutenant 
Grosvenor was slightly wounded and lost about one 
third of his soldiers. Captain Coit, whose company 
was composed largely of New London sailors, is 



i8 Yale in the Revolutio7t. 

described as being in "stature and intrepidity," next 
to McClary, the herculean major of Stark's New 
Hampshire men, who was killed in the action. Cap- 
tain Chester and his company did not reach the hill 
till late, but they went into the fight at once and took 
their places behind the fence, where every man, as 
Chester says, loaded and fired as fast as he could. 
The hill and the earthworks fell to the enemy, but the 
battle belonged to the provincials. It was also a 
valuable experience for our soldiers, and we shall 
hear from them all again. Grosvenor, Gray, and 
Heart, for instance, fought through the war and rose 
to the rank of field-officers. 

There was much to be done after the battle to 
secure the retreat and prevent the enemy from pursu- 
ing beyond Charlestown Neck into the open country. 
Lieut.-Colonel Storrs, of Putnam's regiment, was up 
nearly all night with his men working on a redoubt 
to command the Neck road. Colonel Paterson's 
regiment with others stood under arms to defend 
Cambridge. All were alert ; but the enemy had 
suffered too heavily to make any further demonstra- 
tion. Then came letters, accounts, and affidavits 
respecting the battle, many of which long since found 
their way into print, but they have their interest, and 
for the present record some things the graduates said 
will bear repeating. Chester's letter for one, fresh 
from the scene, dated Camp at Cambridge, July 22, 
1775, is as follows, the last part unfortunately lost : 

"... Just after dinner, on Saturday, 17th ult., I was 
walking out from my lodgings, quite calm and composed, and all 
at once the drums beat to arms, and bells rang, and a great 



Events ii^ 1775-76. 19 

noise in Cambridge. Capt. Putnam came by on full gallop. 
What is the matter ? says I. Have you not heard ? No. Why, 
the regulars are landing at Charlestown, says he ; and father 
[Gen. Putnam] says you must all meet, and march immediately to 
Bunker Hill to oppose the enemy. I waited not, but ran, and 
got my arms and ammunition, and hasted to my company (who 
were in the church for barracks), and found them nearly ready 
to march. We soon marched, with our frocks and trousers 
on over our other clothes (for our company is in uniform wholly 
blue, turned up with red), for we were loath to expose ourselves 
by our dress ; and down we marched. I imagined we arrived at 

the hill near the close of the battle We were very 

soon in the heat of action. Before we reached the summit of 
Bunker Hill, and while we were going over the Neck, we were in 
imminent danger from the cannon shot, which buzzed around us 
like hail. The musquetry began before we passed the Neck, and 
when we were on the top of the hill and during our descent to the 
foot of it on the south, the small as well as cannon shot were in- 
cessantly whistling by us. We joined our army on the right 
of the centre, just by a poor stone fence, two or three feet high, 
and very thin, so that the bullets came through. Here we lost 
our regularity, as every company had done before us, and fought 
as they did, every man loading and firing as fast as he could. As 
near as I could guess we fought standing about six minutes." ^ 

Grosvenor describes what he saw of the fight as 
follows : 

" Our detachment, in advancing to the post, took up one rail- 
fence and placed it against another (as a partial cover), nearly 
parallel with the line of the breast-work, and extended our left 
nearly to Mystic-river. Each man was furnished with one pound 
of gunpowder and forty-eight balls. ... In this position 
our detachment remained, until a second Division of British 

' From Frothingham's " Siege of Boston." Chester's lieutenant, Samuel 
B. Webb, of Wethersfield, afterwards aid to Washington and colonel in the 
Continental army, wrote about the same time : " For my part, I confess, when 
I was descending into the valley, from off Bunker Hill, side by side of Captain 
Chester, at the head of our company, I had no more thought of ever rising the 
hill again than I had of ascending to Heaven, as Elijah did, soul and body to- 
gether." 



20 Yale in the Revohttion. 

troops landed, when they commenced a fire of their field-artillery 
of several rounds, and particularly against the rail-fence ; then 
formed in columns, advanced to the attack, displayed in line at 
about the distance of musket-shot, and commenced firing. At 
this instant, our whole line opened upon the enemy ; and so pre- 
cise and fatal was our fire, that in the course of a short time, they 
gave way and retired in disorder out of musket shot, leaving be- 
fore us many killed and wounded. There was but a short respite 
on the part of the British, as their lines were soon filled up and 
led against us, when they were met as before, and forced back 
with great loss. On reinforcements joining the enemy, they 
made a direct advance on the redoubt ; and being successful, 
which our brave Captain Knowlton perceiving, ordered a retreat 
of his men, in which he was sustained by two companies under 
the command of Captains Clark and Chester. The loss in our 
detachment, I presume, was nearly equal. Of my own immedi- 
ate command of thirty men and one subaltern, there were eleven 
killed and wounded ; among the latter was myself, though not so 
severely as to prevent my retiring." * 

Lieut.-Colonel Storrs had been on the hill early in 
the day, but returned to the command of that part of 
Putnam's regiment still in camp. On the landing of 
the regulars at Charlestown, he was ordered to one of 
the forts near Cambridge. In his brief diary, still 
preserved, he goes on to say, on the 1 7th : 

"... No enemy appearing — orders soon came that our 
People at the Intrenchment were retreating and for us to secure 
y^ retreat. Immediately marched for their relief. The Regulars 
did not come off from Bunker's Hill but have taken possession 
of the Intrenchments and our People make a Stand on Winter 
Hill and we immediately went to entrenching. Flung up by 
morning an entrenchment about 100 feet square. Done princi- 
pally by our Regiment under Putnam's direction. Had but little 
sleep the night. . . . The action was rather precipitate — the 
entrenchment exposed to the fire of all y^ ships and in a place 

* From the Portfolio, March, 1818. 



Eve7its in 1775-76. 21 

where the enemy landed their men under y^ cover of the cannon 
from the ships, and the Post not sufficiently guarded. They 
forced the entrenchment without much difficulty. 

" 26*. We hear a Chief Officer is appointed — a Gen' Washington 
of Virginia to supercede in the command of y" Troops here." ' 

Bunker Hill was followed by the siege of Boston, 
which dragged on into the following March. During 
the fall and winter the soldiers received visits from 
their friends, and good things from home. In fact, 
they were too near their homes, and many stole away 
for a few days, or left altogether, much to the disgust 
of officers who were trying to enforce discipline. 
Chester speaks of this in one of his letters: "The 
country," he says, "must support his Excellency and 
the army in this matter, and exert themselves in de- 
tecting and bringing to punishment all offenders. If 
a firm stand is not now made, we shall never have an 
army worth a fig." At the same time he was not 
averse to comforts himself, and on August 28th writes, 
to our amusement : " I cannot yet live to my mind. 
Our provision is not a fifth part so good as when 
we lived from our own colony store. I care not how 
much of a Continental war it is, but I pray for Con- 
necticut provisions. . . . Half the time no sauce, 
no milk. . . . The Congress allow no butter, 
chocolate, or coffe, or sugar, which our colony al- 
lowed us." The pork, "thin, poor, flashy stuff." 

** I '11 tell you," Chester goes on to say, " how I intend to work 
the matter to Live Better. Brother Jed. Huntington, the Colonel, 
is stationed very near our Regiment. Jno. Trumbull is lately 
made Major of our Brigade, & is back again with us at Roxbury. 

' A portion of the diary of Colonel Storrs, some letters from Captain Chester, 
and Colonel Gay's brief journal were published by the writer in the Magazine 
of American History, vol. for 1882. Further extracts are given. 



2 2 Yale in the Revolution. 

Stephen Thayer is sutler for Huntington's Reg'. Park, a young 
Gentleman from Philadelphia, is Deputy Qua' Mas' under 
Mifflin, who is Q' M' or Barrack Master Gen'. As Mifflin is at 
Cambridge, Mr. Park is on our wing of the army. We five 
propose to hire a Room, Kitchen, and Chamber in a House at 
the foot of the Hill where we are encamp*^, and hire a woman 
to wash and cook for us. My Lieut, will be allowed to join us, 
if he is a clever fellow ; & if he is not so he shall not be in our 
company. Here we intend to Live Genteely with our waiters, 
and Lodge in Tents." ' 

Chester was a good soldier — not the first one to 
believe in camp luxuries — and his new lieutenant, 
who joined the mess, was to become another in the 
person of Ebenezer Huntington. The latter had 
served as a volunteer up to September, when he was 
regularly appointed in Chester's company. 

The Boston encampment was a novelty for New 
England, and many persons visited it, some from 
curiosity, others on business. Among the number 
was one of our oldest graduates, and the oldest who 
was actively concerned in war preparations— the 
Hon. Joshua Babcock, class of 1724, of Westerly, R. I. 
He was introduced to Washington by letter from 
Gov. Cooke, of that State, as a gentleman who had 
"highly distinguished himself in the glorious cause in 
which America is embarked," Another was Rev. Dr. 
Stiles, than whom there was no warmer supporter of 
the revolutionary movement, and the full diary he kept 
of the events of the war, now preserved in the Library, 
shows how constant his interest remained throughout. 
An extract from this diary, giving an account of his visit 
to camp, comes in place here. Under date of Septem- 
ber II, 1775, upon his return to Newport, he writes : 

' Chester to Mr Burrall, August 28, 1775. From the original, in possession 
of the late Rev. Dr. John Chester, Washington, D. C. 



Events in 1775-76. 23 

" Last Monday 1 set out for camp, & arrived there on Wed- 
nesday, 6th inst. I dined that day at Watertown with President 
Langdon [of Harvard], who told me the Corporation had that 
day met there, & voted that the students should be called 
together & academic exercises be set up at Concord. Here I 
saw my uncle Eldad Taylor, Esq., one of the new elected Coun- 
cillors. After dinner I rode to Head Quarters at Cambridge, 
visited General Putnam, took a cursory view of the encampments, 
& lodged at Rev'^ Mr. Farell's, Aet. seventy-two, of Medford, so 
as to be without the camp. Next morn^ Rev. Mr. McLintock, 
Chaplain of New Hampshire Forces, introduced me to Gen. 
Sullivan, and carried me thro the encamp'^ on Winter Hill, Pros- 
pect Hill, & on the E. of Cambridge — that is, the encamp' of 
the Left Wing, & Center of the Army. The works are astonish- 
ing ! The Lines are done with a sufficient degree of Elegance, 
but their Strength & the Quajitity of Line & Fortific^ are amazing, 
considered as the work of one Summer only. The whole army 
is in 3 divisions of two Brigades each. A brigade is 6 Reg'"" of 
lo companies each ; & each comp^ 6o Men. So a Brigade 3600, 
if full, & a Division about 7000. The 3 divisions are 22000. 
There are some Boys and others worthless Fellows ; but these, 
with the sick & unfit for duty, & Absentees on Furlough were 
estimated to me far short of one Quarter of the Army. The 
Man-Boys are equal to men in general for Duty, especially in an 
engagement. The rest of the Army were robust, hardy, brave 
Men, the Flower of N. Engld. So that they told me it might be 
relied upon that they ^lad sixteen Thousd. healthy, rugged, 
courageous, invincible Troops, fit for Action & Enterprize. 
These are enough. The Arrangement is : the right wing at Rox- 
bury and Dorchester, 2 Brigades, 7000 ; the left wing at Pros- 
pect, Winter & Plow'd Hills, 7000 ; the Center at Cambridge, 7000. 
The Generals command thus : 



.2 « ^ 

ps; o hj 

Major-Gen. Ward, His Excelly Gen. Washington, Major-Gen, Lee, 

B.-Gen. Thomas, Major-Gen. Putnam, B.-Gen. Sullivan, 

B.-Gen. Spencer. B.-Gen. Heath. B.-Gen. Greene. 



24 Yale in the Revohttion. 

" The Tents begin on Winter Hill, about \\ mile from Mystic 
Bridge, & so extend all along round to the mouth of Cambridge 
River. I began the Inspection upon Winter Hill. Here is the 
largest Fortress in the Army ; one side of it is above one hundred 
Rods. In a Valley between Winter and prospect Hills is 
Gen. Lee's House ; we went to it, but he was gone on plow'd 
Hill, so I missed seeing him. Then we proceeded to Prospect 
Hill, went into Major Sherburn's marquiss Tent. The Major was 
appointed to Duty, & Col. Hitchcock was so obliging as to carry 
me thro' the Lines. The works are of astonishing Strength. 
Thence we proceeded & viewed the encamp'^ of the Central 
Division at Cambridge, and dined at Gen. Putnam's. In the 
Afternoon, Mr. Leonard carried me to Col. Trumbull's, who pro- 
vides for the Army. There I saw Rev'' Mr. Blair (formerly Pas- 
tor of the Old S° in B°), now Chaplain to the Rifle Men, 800. 
Then we waited upon his Excellency General Washington, who 
received us very politely, & invited me to dinner. I was also in- 
troduced to Gen. Heath & Adjutant Gen. Gates, a martial man. 
After visiting College, now converted into Barracks, we went to 
the Meetinghouse at VI o'Clock. Here I prayed with the Central 
Brigade, and lodged at Gen. Putnams with Mr. Leonard ; spent 
the Evening in Company with the General and Gen. Wash^ 
Aide de Camp, Mr. Randolph, & sundry other Gentlemen very 
agreeably. 

"In the Morning of the 8th ins* I rode over to Roxbury, & 
passed Major Gen. Ward's House before I knew it. I break- 
fasted at Gen. Spencers. Then Rev. Mr. Johnson & Rev'' Mr. 
Boardman, two of the Connecticut Chaplains, walked with me & 
shewed me all the Lines in the 3d Division, or Right wing, under 
the Command of Gen. Ward. They introduced me to Gen. 
Thomas also where we sat & conversed some time very agreeably. 
Then about XI o'Clock I took Leave & set out for home." 

In this connection, also, is inserted a personal let- 
ter from Captain Isaac Sherman to his father in Con- 
gress at Philadelphia. It is one of a very few known 
to exist written by this officer, who subsequently be- 
came quite distinguished in the Continental army. 



Events in 1775-76, 25 

He was at this time captain in Gerrish's, afterwards 
Baldwin's, Massachusetts regiment : 

" Brookline Fort, at Sewall's Point, September 8, 1775. 

" Hon''° Sir: — I received your letter dated August 21st, 
which is the only one received since that favored by Col. Fol- 
som. It gives me great pleasure to hear that my friends are in a 
good state of health. Mr. Dagget's stay was so very short that I 
could not possibly have wrote, — he told me you would set out for 
Philadelphia before his return. 

" I was appointed by the Mass"^ Province. Business of al- 
most every kind was entirely stagnated in this Province by rea- 
son of the Publick difficulties, which rendered it almost impossible 
to obtain any employment sufficient to procure a maintenance, 
was an inducement for me to enter the army : but far from being 
the only one. The goodness of the Cause, a desire of being a use- 
ful Member of society and of serving my Country, a thirst for 
glory, real glory, were the grand incentives. I hope by the as- 
sistance of the Deity I shall be enabled to serve every useful end, 
— never to reflect dishonor upon the Family or myself. The dis- 
tance being so great, the necessity of being Expeditious in recruit- 
ing, rendered it almost impossible to have consulted with you on 
the affair. I am so far from thinking the advice of the experi- 
enced disadvantageous to youth that I apprehend it to be incum- 
bent duty of young Men to consult and advise with those who are 
acquainted with the various manoevres of Mankind, and espe- 
cially with a kind, indulgent Parent, who always consults the good 
of his children. 

" The Questions you proposed I shall answer with Pleasure. I 
am stationed at Brookline Fort, at Sewall's Point, situated be- 
tween Cambridge and Roxbury, on Charles River. We have no 
great prospect of a Battle at present. They will never presume 
without a very Considerable Reinforcement to attempt to force our 
lines, which are very strong ; nor we theirs. The army is very 
healthy, in fine spirits, resolute in the Cause. We have no certain 
News from the British Troops, — a few deserters now and then ; 
but their relations are to be but little depended on. The people 
in Boston have been and still are in a very disagreeable situation. 
They have liberty to come out, but they come out very slow, for 



26 Yale in the Revolution. 

a few Boats pass a day, and those over Winissinet Ferry only. 
The Generals are well. We have various accounts from England, 
but no Intelligence to be depended on. Nothing remarkable has 
happened here of late. Judges nor Justices are appointed. But 
the Assembly in their next session, I understand, are a going to 
appoint them. The Council at present are settling the Militia of 
the Province. I should esteem it a great favor to be informed as 
soon as possible of the Plan preferred by the Continental Con- 
gress for raising troops for the ensuing Campaign, — whether I 
could obtain the Command of a regiment if I could raise one. 

" There are a number of things I stand in great need of, which 
cannot easily be procured here but at a very extravagant price. 
Should be glad you would furnish me with a genteel Hanger 
[sword], a yard and a half of superfine scarlet Broadcloth with 
suitable Trimmings for a coat of Uniform, and a piece of Holland. 
I am in good health ; very much pleased with a Military life, tho'gh 
attended with many inconveniences. I shall for the future take 
every opportunity of writing, and when anything of importance 
occurs, shall endeavor to give the earliest intelligence. 
" I am. Sir, your most dutiful Son, 

" Isaac Sherman, 

" N. B. — I should be glad to know what number of men a regi- 
ment will consist of the ensuing campaign. Mr. Seevar, the Bearer 
of this, will tarry some days in Philadelphia — he is after goods. 
You may, if agreeable, have an opportunity of sending the Things 
I wrote for with his, and they will be conveyed with safety to me. 
Mr. Sevar will purchase the quantity of goods he propose at N. 
York ; these things may be obtained there and sent with his if 
equally agreeable to you. 

" To the Hon^'^ Roger Sherman, Esq"", at Philadelphia ; 
favored by Mr. Sevar." ' 

While troops were hurrying toward Boston, after 
the Lexington alarm, there occurred, May loth, the 
clever surprise of old Fort Ticonderoga, at Lake 
George. Major John Brown, class of 1771, figured 

' For a copy of this letter the writer is indebted to the Hon. George F. Hoar, 
Senator from Massachusetts, a descendant of Roger Sherman. 



Events in 1775-76. 27 

prominently in that affair and afterwards in that de- 
partment. He was a rising- young lawyer, of Berk- 
shire County, Mass., a capable, manly fellow, full of 
spirit and resolution, who, on several occasions, did 
capital service and finally gave his life to the country. 
Acquainted with his merits, as he was a member of 
the last Provincial Congress, the Massachusetts Com- 
mittee of Safety requested him, early in 1775, to 
make a trip into Canada to ascertain the temper of 
the people and movements of the authorities. This 
duty he promptly undertook, and on March 29th wrote 
an interesting letter from Montreal to the committee, 
giving them much information and making some ex- 
cellent suggestions. The letter is important as con- 
taining, so far as the records show, the first proposal 
to secure Ticonderoga, the old strategic point of the 
French and Indian War. Brown's words are these : 
" One thing I must mention, to be kept as a profound 
secret. The fort at Ticonderoga must be seized as 
soon as possible, should hostilities be committed by 
the king's troops. The people on New Hampshire 
Grants have engaged to do this business, and in my 
opinion they are the most proper persons for this 
job. This will effectually curb this Province, and all 
Troops that may be sent here." ' 

Massachusetts was preparing to act upon this hint 
after Lexington, when Connecticut anticipated her 
with an independent movement in which our gradu- 
ates again appear. An expedition was set on foot 
from Hartford, at the instance of ten or twelve in- 
dividuals who advanced the necessary funds from the 

' Letter published in full in Force's American Archives. 



28 Yale in the Revolution. 

public treasury, giving their own notes as security. 
Among them were Joshua Porter, class of 1754, and 
Silas Deane and Samuel Wyllys, class of 1758. 
Harvard was represented by Samuel H olden Par- 
sons and William Williams. The prompt action of 
these gentlemen, proceeding on their own responsi- 
bility, led to speedy success. A few volunteers from 
Connecticut marched to Pittsfield, where they were 
joined by John Brown, as well as Israel Dickinson, 
of the class of 1758, and all continued the march to 
Bennington and Castleton. There, Hampshire men 
were met, and an organization effected under Col- 
onels Ethan Allen and Easton, and on the morning 
of May loth, the garrison of the fort was surprised 
and captured. This was an acquisition. Brown and 
Dickinson engaged in the affair, and are mentioned 
in Colonel Allen's report as having " distinguished 
themselves very highly both in council and action." 
Brown marched the prisoners out of the fortress, and 
was then despatched to report the capture in person 
to Congress. 

When Montgomery afterwards proceeded to oc- 
cupy Canada, Brown accompanied him as major of 
Easton's Massachusetts regiment. On the way, in 
October, he assisted in compelling the surrender of 
Chamblee and received his general's thanks. " Major 
Brown," says Montgomery, " offered his services upon 
this occasion. Upon this, and all other occasions, I 
have found him active and intelligent." Pushing on 
to Montreal, where Gen. Wooster, who cordially sup- 
ported Montgomery, was left in command, the main 
party continued their march to Quebec, to meet Ar- 



Events in 1775-76. 29 

nold and assault the city. In that ill-fated attempt, 
on the morning of Dec. 31, 1775, which cost us Mont- 
gomery's valuable life, many fine officers, who sub- 
sequently rose to distinction, were engaged. Major 
Brown commanded one of the detachments directed 
to demonstrate in the front of the city while the main 
attacks were made in the rear. All failed, and the 
handful of Americans fell back to continue the ap- 
pearance of an investment through the winter. 
Brown was stationed at the advance lines where he 
suffered intensely from the cold. The nature of his 
duties appears from one of his unpublished letters as 
well as from this brief order to be found in the frag- 
ment of an old Quebec Order-Book preserved in the 
Pension Bureau at Washington : 

"Jan. 27, 1776 — opposite Quebec. 
" The different guards are to instruct their sentrys that when they 
see any Rockets thrown from the guards at the hospital or the ad- 
vanced guard at Major Brown's quarters, is to be taken for the sig- 
nal of allarum." 

In the letter, which was written to his wife, Major 
Brown speaks of a disagreement between himself and 
Arnold. This seems to have originated at the sur- 
prise of Ticonderoga, and ended in a series of charges 
preferred against the latter by Brown. The Major 
mistrusted Arnold's honesty at an early date. His 
letter is as follows : 

" Camp near Quebec, March 15, 1776. 
" Dear Wife :— By Lt. Pixley, of Stockbridge, I send this, 
which I suppose will come direct — nothing of great consequence 
has happened since my last which concerns the army. Capt. 
Brown [the Major's brother] now lies before me breathing his 
last, having taken the smallpox about twelve days since, Terri- 



so Yale in the Revolution. 

ble tidings this to our family at Sandisfield. I have got him a 
good house in the country, where he has the best attention. I 
have waited on him with Doctor Binna of Tyringham during his 
illness, but all in vain. He is lost. I shall be home in the 
spring, God willing — have spent the winter very disagreeably in- 
deed. The Sandisfield troops arrived here three days since, who 
tell me you are all well. . . . 

"I hear General Lee is nigh at hand, in which I rejoice. Mr. 
General Arnold and I do not agree very well. I expect another 
storm soon — suppose I must be a Uriah. We had an alarm yes- 
terday. The enemy made a sally on our working party ; it is 
said with five hundred men. General Arnold immediately or- 
dered me, being on the advance post, to attack them with my de- 
tachment, which consists of about two hundred, more than half 
of which were sick in hospital. I accordingly marched against 
the enemy, who had retired into the Fort too soon for me to at- 
tack them. I expect to be punished for disobedience of orders 
next. On the whole, we are in an indifferent situation at present. 
I suppose all letters are broken open before they reach the Colo- 
nies, but as this goes by a friend it will come safe. 

" I am solicited to stay another year as Lt. Colonel, but have 
refused. Shall I consent ? Compliments to all friends, &c. 
*' I am, &c., your loving husband, &c., 

" Jno. Brown." 

'' To Mrs. Huldah Brown, Pittsfield." ' 

Word of the Quebec disaster was sent to Wooster 
at Montreal, now the senior officer in Canada, and he 
immediately issued the following instructions to Col. 
James Clinton, commanding one of the New York 
regiments at that post : 

" Headquarters, Montreal, Jan. 4, 1776. 
" Col. Clinton : — Sir, you are hereby desired and directed to 
proceed with all possible expedition to the Army lately com- 
manded by our Brave Deceased General Montgomery, and take 
the command of them till Col. Arnold shall recover from his 

' From a copy of the original in possession of Mr. H. C. Van Schaack, Man- 
lius, N. Y. 



Events in 1775-76. 31 

wound or till otherwise Ordered — with regard to the measures you 
are to take with the Army, I shall leave it to your discretion, with 
the advice of the other officers. You will communicate to me all 
transactions of importance, and upon your arrival, forward to 
me, by the first safe conveyance, all General Montgomery's public 
and private papers. 

" By order of General Wooster. 

" James Carr Benjamin, Aid-De-Camp." ' 

The attempt on Canada, however, came to nothing. 
Wooster himself took command before Quebec in 
April, but he was disliked by Gen. Schuyler, com- 
manding the department, and a Committee of Con- 
gress recommended his removal, which John Adams 
regarded as an act of injustice. On this point fur- 
ther facts are presented in the biographical sketch of 
the General. He was succeeded by Gen. Thomas, 
of Massachusetts, whose secretary and aid was Major 
Theodore Sedgewick, class of 1765, afterwards judge 
and United States Senator. Thomas soon died, and 
our troops withdrew from Canada. 

The Boston siege promised better success. Capt. 
Chester, who was promoted major of Col. Erastus 
Wolcott's regiment in Jan., 1776, continued to write 
interestine letters to his friends at Wethersfield, sev- 
eral of which have been published.^ He was very 
anxious to have the enemy driven out of the town. 
" Great complaints," he wrote, Feb. 15th, " are here 
made by y*" Gen'' of the want of Powder, which im- 
pedes everything ; they think that even the town 
stocks ought to be delivered up to the army, for if 
we can do nothing here this season, forty times the 

> From the original among the MSS. at "Washington's Head-Quarters," 
Newburg, N. Y. * See note on p. 21. 



32 Yale in the Revolution. 

quantity in the Country will be of no service when 
the reinforcements arrive from Eng-land. If we 
can rout this Hornest Nest now we have every- 
thing to hope, if not we 've everything to fear. 
The cause is General & Common. Why should 
Distant Colonies & towns carry on a distinct War 
and lay out for a distinct defence ? You need 
not fear to Drive on the Salt Petre works vigorously. 
Pray how go on the Powder Mills. We shall want 
their most vigorous exertions soon." 

Col. Henry Babcock, and Capt. William Coit, who 
had been in the Boston camps, varied their service 
with some independent experiences, Coit, hailing 
from New London, knew something of sea life, and. 
after showing his courage at Bunker Hill, took com- 
mand of a privateer. It was not long before he fell 
in with rich prizes. Two that he captured in No- 
vember, 1775, were laden with "fish, flour, hogs, 
sheep, cattle, potatoes, cheese, and all kinds of poul- 
try, from Halifax, for the use of the hungry crew in 
Boston." He seems to have had a vein of humor in 
him, as a published letter states that he landed his 
prisoners on Plymouth Rock and there made them 
give three cheers and wish all happiness to America.' 
He is said to have been the first rebel to turn "his 
Majesty's bunting upside down." 

Col. Babcock, of Rhode Island, had been serving 
as a volunteer with Gen. Putnam, his old companion 
in the French and Indian War, where he won no little 
reputation. He was but twenty-one when commis- 

' Penn. Journal, Nov. 29, 1775. See extract from one of Coit's letters in 
biographical sketch. 



Events in 1775-76. 33 

sioned colonel, and is spoken of as a youth of unusual 
brilliancy. The Rhode Island Assembly gave him the 
" home-brigade " early in 1776, and he immediately 
laid it under strict dicipline, first addressing it in a 
salutatory order as follows : 

" Gentlemen Officers and Brother Soldiers : 

******** 

" Many, and most of you, I am certain, have engaged in the ser- 
vice of your country upon the best Principles, viz., that of defend- 
ing your aged parents, your wives and children, against the 
arbitrary attempts of a wretched, abandoned, and most profligate 
administration, who have compelled us to take up arms in the 
defence of all that's dear and valuable. You will therefore 
bring no disgrace upon so good a cause, but in case of an action, 
which may sooner happen than many of you may expect, behave 
yourselves with coolness, firmness, and manly fortitude, by which 
means you will call down the Divine Blessing upon our arms. 

" I have the pleasure to acquaint you that this wide Extended 
Continent are almost united to a man to oppose with firmness 
every attempt to enslave us. The country. My Brothers (for as 
such I shall esteem every good soldier), cannot be enslaved ; we 
must and shall be Free, and grow into greatness by opposition. 
The kingdom of Great Britain (tho' formerly famed for arts and 
arms) is now gallopping headlong to ruin. The Empire of 
America is rising to glory. 

" I shall make it my study to inform you of every part of your 
duty as fast as I possibly can. Your pay and provisions I shall 
be very careful that you have ; on your part I shall expect the 
most implicit obedience to the orders of your officers. I wish 
you health and happiness (which will much depend on a virtuous 
conduct and keeping yourselves neat and clean) and as much 
glory as you can possibly wish yourselves.' 

The Colonel, unfortunately, developed certain ec- 
centricities about this time, which barred his entrance 

• This and the succeeding extract from the New London Gazette, March 8 
and April ig, 1776. 



34 Yale in the Revolution. 

into the field, where otherwise he might have dis- 
tinguished himself. He was deprived of his com- 
mand, but not before he had the opportunity of 
showing what he could do in a "lucid interval." 
While stationed at Newport he assisted in driving off 
the Scarborough, 2. British twenty-gun ship, which, with 
two tenders, sailed into the harbor one evening early 
in April, with the obvious intention of doing mischief. 
A party of volunteers captured the tenders (a brig 
and schooner) while the Colonel opened a sharp fire 
on the man-of-war from one of the forts. He re- 
ceives high praise for his conduct in a published 
account of the affair, where the writer adds at the 
close : 

" We are bound in justice to say that the disposition on shore, 
made by Colonel Babcock, was very soldierlike, and, notwith- 
standing his indisposition, he was on horseback a great part of 
the night, fired one of the eighteen-pounders from the North 
Battery himself and hulled the Scarborough, and behaved in so 
cool and approved a manner as made even the Tories fear him. 
The Sons of Liberty take this opportunity of returning Colonel 
Babcock their particular thanks for the Discipline he has estab- 
lished in the Brigade under his command. Notwithstanding the 
clamor made against him of Insanity, we think him perfectly in 
his sober senses." 

The British evacuated Boston March 17, 1776, and 
on the same day our forces took possession. Lieut.- 
Colonel Fisher Gay, of Farmington, Conn., and of 
Col. Erastus Wolcott's regiment, leaves in his jour- 
nal about the only record we have of the entry of 
the troops. Col. Gay had lately been requested by 
Washington to purchase all the gunpowder he could 
in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and after a rapid 



Events in 1775-76. 



35 



and successful trip which gave the General "great satis- 
faction," he returned to duty near Boston Neck. On 
the day of the evacuation, March 1 7th, he writes : 

"... Colonel Wolcott on the Hill — An alarm in the morn- 
ing. I ordered the regiment to meet before the Colonel's door 
after prayers. I marched them off with Major Chester. Near 
the alarm post found instead of going to action the enemy had 
abandoned Boston. 500 troops ordered immediately. Ordered 
to march into and take possession of the fortifications in Boston. 
Colonel Learnard, my self, Majors Sprout and Chester, with a 
number of other officers and troops marched in and took posses- 
sion and tarried there till the 19* at night ; then returned to camp 
at Roxbury. Never people more glad at the departure of an 
enemy and to see friends." ' 

Boston relieved, Washington put a large part of 
his army on the road for New York, which was to 
become the scene of operations in the next campaign. 

' See note on page 21. 




EVENTS IN 1776-77. 

The New York Campaign — List of Alumni Soldiers— Declaration of Indepen- 
dence — Joseph Hawley — Battle of Long Island — Colonel Silliman — Re- 
treat to New York — Tallmadge's Account of It — Loss of New York — 
Nathan Hale — Bushnell's Torpedo — White Plains — Trenton and Prince- 
ton — Letter from Capt. Hull — Hitchcock's Gallant Conduct — Deaths of 
Graduate Officers. 

We now have more stirring times. War came 
with a reality and energy that put the devotion of 
the country to a painful test. The change of base 
from Boston to New York meant the concentration 
at the latter point of thirty thousand of England's 
best troops and mercenaries to stamp out rebellion 
with the hardest blows. In addition, prestige lost at 
Boston had to be recovered. The result anticipated 
by the enemy followed. Washington's army, which 
attempted to defend New York, experienced that 
series of defeats and losses, beginning with the battle 
of Long Island and ending with the retreat through 
New Jersey, with which every one is familiar. It 
was the anxious summer and fall of 1776, a very 
critical period of the war, which might have closed 
with unwelcome apprehensions, had not Trenton and 
Princeton suddenly changed the situation and revived 
faith and confidence. 

Between eighty and ninety graduates took part in 
the operations of the year, some serving to the close 
of the campaign, others serving brief terms with the 

36 



Events in i yyd-yy. z7 

militia. Most of them were to be found in the army 
at New York, under Washington's immediate com- 
mand ; a few in the northern department and else- 
where. Twelve or fifteen came with the Continental 
regiments from Boston — for instance, Colonels Wyl- 
lys and Hitchcock, Major Sherman, Captains Hull, 
Hale, Grosvenor, and others. In the emergency, 
that is, in June and July, 1776, especially after the 
enemy had landed in force at Staten Island, Wash- 
ington called urgently for more troops, and many 
hurried to his assistance. New York furnished two 
new brigades, one of which, consisting of four regi- 
ments, was commanded by Brigadier-General John 
Morin Scott, of the class of 1 746, already mentioned 
as one of the ablest of the patriotic leaders in the 
State. Lewis Morris, of the same State and class, was 
appointed brigadier of Westchester County troops, but 
being a member of the Continental Congress he did 
not assume any command until later in the war. 
William Livingston, of the class of 1741, appeared 
as brigadier-general at the head of Jersey militia, and 
watched the enemy on Staten Island until August, 
when the Legislature elected him governor of the 
State. Connecticut sent a large proportion of the 
reinforcements called for, the most reliable of which 
were the seven regiments raised in June to serve 
through the year, and placed under the command of 
Brigadier-General James Wadsworth, of the class of 
1748. Four of his colonels were also graduates, 
namely. Gold Selleck Silliman, Philip Burr Bradley, 
Fisher Gay, and John Chester, as well as two 
lieutenant-colonels, John Chandler and Giles Rus- 



38 



Yale in the Revolution. 



sell. In August, Brigadier-General Oliver Wolcott, 
class of 1 747, lately returned from Congress, brought 
down a body of militia from Western Connecticut, 
and still later Brigadier-General Gurdon Saltonstall, 
class of 1725, the oldest graduate who ventured into 
the field, arrived with another body from the eastern 
section of the State ; while in December, General 
Wooster, who had been recalled from Canada, sta- 
tioned himself with militiamen in Westchester County 
and along the Connecticut border. The other gradu- 
ates were generally subordinate officers in these 
several commands. As far as can be ascertained, the 
list, with their latest rank, of those who served at any 
time in this campaign, from the spring of 1776 into 
January 1777, when the battle of Princeton was 
fought, would be as follows : 



Around New York. 



Maj.-Gen. David Wooster, 
Brig. -Gen. John M. Scott, 

" William Livingston, 

" James Wadsworth, 

Oliver Wolcott, 
" Gurdon Saltonstall, 

Colonel Samuel Wyllys, 

Daniel Hitchcock, 
Gold S. Silliman, 
Philip B. Bradley, 
Fisher Gay, 
John Chester, 
Joseph Piatt Cooke, 
Mark Hopkins, 
Lieut. -Col. John Chandler, 
" Giles Russell, 

" Experience Storrs, 

" Thomas Seymour, 

Major Isaac Sherman, 
Surgeon Jared Potter, 
" Josiah Hart, 



Chaplain Ebenezer Baldwin, 
" Abner Benedict, 
" Thomas Brockway, 
" Joseph Buckminster, 
" Ebenezer Cleaveland, 
" John Cleaveland, 
" Hezekiah Chapman, 
" Stephen Johnson, 
" Isaac Lewis, 
" Benjamin Pomeroy, 
" John Storrs, 
" Benjamin Trumbull, 
" Samuel Wales, 
Asst. Adj. -Gen. Eben. Huntington, 
" " Mark Leavenworth, 

Brigade-Major John P. Wyllys, 
" " Daniel Lyman, 

" " William Peck, 

" " Ebenezer Gray, 

" " Benjamin Tallmadge, 

Adjutant David Humphreys, 



' Events in 777^-/7. 39 

Adjutant Andrew Hillyer, Lieutenant James Morris, 

" Sam. A. S. Barker, " Royal Flint, 

Captain Thomas Grosvenor, ' ' Jonathan Bellamy, 

" William Hull, " James Watson, 

" Nathan Hale, " Amos Northrop, 

" Theophilus Munson, " Nathaniel West, 

" Hezekiah Wyllys, " Simeon Newell, 

" Jabez Hamlin, " James Hillhouse, 

" Samuel Eells, " Ashbel Baldwin, 

" Stephen R. Bradley, Aide-de-Camp Thomas Wooster, 

Lieutenant Ezra Selden, Volunteer Joel Barlow, 

Richard Sill, " David Bushnell, 

" Jonathan Heart, " Elisha S. Williams. 

At Ticonderoga. 

Colonel John Paterson, Captain Vine Elderkin, 
Surgeon Thomas Russell, " Elijah Abel, 

Chaplain David Avery, Lieutenant William Nichols, 
" Ammi R. Robbins, " Enoch Woodbridge. 

Captain Moses Ashley, 

At Fort Stanwix. 
Captain Robert Walker, Lieutenant Nehemiah Rice. 

At Boston. 
Chaplain William Plumbe. 

William Coit became Captain of the Connecticut man-of-war " Oliver Crom- 
well, " with Bela Elderkin as Lieutenant of Marines. John Elderkin was probably 
a regimental Quartermaster at New York ; Stephen Keyes, also, a line officer. 

Briefly outlined, the events of this year included 
the battle of Long Island, retreat to New York, 
evacuation of the city, battle of Harlem Heights, 
retreat to and battle of White Plains, loss of Fort 
Washington, retreat through New Jersey, and finally, 
the battles of Trenton and Princeton. They followed 
each other rapidly, from Aug. 27th to Jan. 3d. 

The successful defence of New York without a 
fleet was problematical, but not to attempt it would 
have been too frank an admission of timidity or 
weakness. Accordingly, when the Boston army 
reached the city in April, it was set to work at the 
old task of fortifying. The men were well used to 



40 Yale in the Revolution. 

spade and shovel. Something had been done before 
by New York and Connecticut troops, but vastly 
more remained to be done. Works were laid out at 
every defensible point in the vicinity, and digging 
went on for four months before the enemy were pre- 
pared to attack. Officers had their hands full direct- 
ing the fatigue parties, drilling in camp, and doing 
guard duty. As to the graduates, Gen. Scott was 
quartered with his brigade in the city, where batteries 
were thrown up along the river fronts ; Cols. Silliman 
and Chester, of Gen. Wadsworth's brigade, on the 
east side ; Col. Bradley on Bergen Heights and Paulus 
Hook, now Jersey City ; Col. Wyllys near Jones' 
Hill, East Grand St. ; Major Sherman on the North 
River, about the foot of Canal St. ; Captains Hull and 
Hale near Bayard's Hill ; Gen. Livingston at Eliza- 
bethtown Point, New Jersey ; Cols. Gay and Hitch- 
cock, under Gen. Greene, on the Brooklyn front ; and 
the others elsewhere from Governor's Island to 
King's Bridge. 

The last-named officer, Col. Daniel Hitchcock, 
class of 1 76 1, commanding one of the two Rhode Is- 
land regiments in the service (Col. James Varnum, 
graduate of Brown, commanding the other) will make 
an enviable record during this campaign. He went 
to college from Springfield, Mass., but settled in the 
practice of the law at Providence, R. I. Gen. Greene, 
of the same State, thought highly of both his colo- 
nels. Like himself, both were excellent discipli- 
narians, and of mature and safe judgment. Their 
regiments were among the best in the army, and with 
others were assigned to the construction and defence 



>^'" 



Events in 1776-'/'/. 41 

of the works on the Long Island side. Hitchcock's 
command built Fort Putnam, which stood on the 
high ground in the present Washington Park, Brook- 
lyn, and in his orders of June 17th Greene named 
that as their permanent station : " Col. Hitchcock's 
Reg\, to take fort Putnam and the fort or redoubt 
on the left of it for their alarm posts. ... In 
case of an attack all these posts are to be defended 
to the last extremity."' Serving faithfully during 
the year, the Colonel will render signal and distin- 
guished service at the close, although, unhappily, it 
was the cause of his death soon after. 

This was the year, also, of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, which brought matters to a definite issue 
and attached additional significance to all military 
operations that followed. It practically cut off rec- 
onciliation and foreshadowed a long and determined 
contest.'' Four of our graduates were among the 
" Signers " of that famous instrument, namely, Philip 
Livingston and Lewis Morris of New York, Oliver 
Wolcott of Connecticut, and Lyman Hall of Georgia. 
As the biography of the signers is to be found in 
print, and generally accessible to the reader, it is 
enough in this connection simply to recall these 
names. With them, however, we may mention that 
of another graduate, not so well known, whose voice 
was always listened to with deep attention, and who 
powerfully urged separation from Great Britain at 

' Gen. Greene's orders in "The Campaign of 1776 around New York and 
Brooklyn." Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society, vol. iii. Brook- 
lyn, 1878. 

"Dr. Stiles said of it : " Thus the Congress has tied the Gordian knot, which 
the Parliament will find they can neither cut nor untie. The Thirteen Colo- 
nies now rise into an Independent Republic, among the Kingdoms, States, and 
Empires on^Earth." — Holmes' " Life of Stiles." 



42 Yale in the Revolution. 






an early day. This was Hon. Joseph Hawley, Major 
Hawley, as he was called, class of 1742, who lived at 
Northampton, Mass. He was an eminent lawyer and 
frequently represented his town in the General Court 
at Boston, where he took the lead in public discus- 
sions. He is remembered as a man of great intel- 
lectual power and force of character, but without that 
ambition which would have led him with men like 
John Adams into a wider field. His reputation was 
confined mainly to Massachusetts. There, we are 
told his influence was " almost unexampled." He 
seems to have forecast the tendency of the contro- 
versy with England earlier than his colleagues, and 
always gave a pronounced opinion on current issues. 
Bancroft states that he was the first to deny openly 
in a colonial legislature Parliament's right to legislate 
for America. Later, when few men dared to think 
of a resort to arms, Hawley saw that it was inevi- 
able. To those who reminded him of the danger of 



Events in i yyd-y/, 43 

the unequal contest he replied : " We must put to 
sea. Providence will bring us into port." So firm 
were his convictions on this point that early in 1774 
he impressed his views upon the Massachusetts dele- 
gation, then attending the first Congress in Phila- 
delphia, in what he called a series of " broken hints." 
His sentences were full of fire. " We must fight," 
he wrote, " if we cannot otherwise rid ourselves of 
British taxation, all revenues, and the constitution or 
form of government enacted for us by the British 
Parliament. It is evil against right. . . . It is 
now or never that we must assert our liberty. . 
Fight we must finally unless Britain retreats." When 
war came Hawley was again among the first to urge 
independence as the true ground on which to prose- 
cute it. His letters to Elbridge Gerry in Congress 
early in 1776 show how much in earnest he was. 
" Independence," he says to him, "is the only way to 
union and harmony, to vigor and dispatch in busi- 
ness. Our eye will be single and our whole body 
full of light. Anything short of it will, as appears to 
me, be our destruction, infallible destruction, and that 
speedily." "You cannot declare independence too 
soon." "My hand and heart are full of it. There 
will be no abiding union without it." " Let there be 
a full revolution, or all has been done in vain. In- 
dependence, and a well-planned Continental govern- 
ment, will save us." " Without an American inde- 
pendent supreme Government and Constitution, 
wisely devised and designed, well established and 
settled, we shall always be but a rope of sand ; but 
that well done, invincible." Nor was Hawley con- 



44 Yale in the Revolution. 

tent to indulge in words and counsel alone. He be- 
came Chairman of the Northampton Committee of 
Safety, and was active in the years 1776 and 1777 in 
raising and equipping troops for service in New 
York and Canada. A few of his letters to the State 
Committee, showing what he did in this direction, are 
preserved in the Massachusetts Archives at Boston. 
William Tudor, Hawley's contemporary, who places 
him high among the worthies of that State in that im_- 
portant period, pays this tribute to his memory : "He, 
in fine, formed one of those manly, public-spirited 
and generous citizens, ready to share peril and de- 
cline reward, who illustrate the idea of a Common- 
wealth ; and who, through the obstructions of human 
passions and infirmities, being of rare occurrence, 
will always be the most admired, appropriate, and 
noble ornaments of a free government."' 

The campaign opened on August 2 2d, when the 
enemy crossed from their encampments on Staten 
Island to the Long Island shore at Gravesend, and 
marched towards our Brooklyn lines. Gen. Living- 
ston learned of the movement through a spy and was 
the first to inform Washington of it. More troops 
were at once pushed across the East River to defend 

^ See Tudor's " Life of James Otis " pp. 253-60, where he gives Hawley an 
elaborate notice. A full sketch, with authorities, appears in Prof. Dexter's 
' ' Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the 
College History, Oct., 1701-May, 1745-" — N. Y., Henry Holt & Co., 1885. 

Hawley being major of the Second Hampshire Co. Militia regiment before 
the war, was generally known as Major Hawley, 



Events in 1776-yy. 45 

the works on that side, and large picket detachments 
were sent to the hills beyond in the present Green- 
wood Cemetery and Prospect Park. After four 
days' delay, on the morning of August 27th, the 
enemy advanced and by noon had won what is 
known as the battle of Long Island. They suc- 
ceeded in outflanking the force at the hills and 
passes — about five thousand men — and caused its 
precipitate retreat to the main works, in the course_^ 
of which there was considerable fighting, accom- 
panied with the loss, on our part, of about eight hun- 
dred prisoners. By not sufficiently guarding the 
Jamaica road on the left, the Americans suffered 
a surprise and defeat. The enemy then prepared to 
lay siege to the fortified line which ran through 
what is now the heart of Brooklyn, when Washing- 
ton, on the night of the 29th, silently withdrew the 
troops and accomplished his famous retreat across 
the river to New York. 

Quite a number of graduates were concerned in 
these movements. Gay's and Hitchcock's regiments 
were already on that side. Among the additional 
troops sent over after the enemy landed were Col. 
Wyllys', Silliman's, and Chester's regiments. Silli- 
man's was sent to various points at the front, and 
in his letters, still preserved, he describes his ex- 
periences. On the 25th, for example, he wrote 
to his wife from the picket post in Prospect Park, 
opposite Flatbush, as follows : 

"I wrote you yesterday morning from Brookline upon the 
Drum Head in the field as I do now, which I hope you will 
receive this day Have not so much as a bear skin 



46 Yale in the Revolution. 

to lie on, only my blanket to wrap me in, for our removals from 
place to place are so quick & sudden that we can have 
no opportunity nor means to convey beds, &c., but go only with 
the cloaths on our backs & our blankets and a little ready- 
cooked victuals. I am now posted within about half a mile from 
the Regulars with my Regt. under the Covert of a woody hill to 
stop their passage into the Country. There are a number of 
Regts. posted all around the town within about the same distance 
& for the same purpose. The regulars keep up an almost Con- 
stant Fire from their cannon & mortars at some or other of us, 
but neither shott nor shell has come near my Regt. yet and they 
are at too great a distance to fire muskets at as yet. I have 
a scouting party going out now to see if they can't pick up some 
or get something from them. I came to this post this day at 12 
o'clock & shall remain here till this time to-morrow, if God 
spares my life, with no other covering than the trees." ' 

On the morning of the battle, Wyllys' and 
Chester's regiments were stationed on the upper 
Flatbush road and narrowly escaped capture. They 
were caught in the thick of the retreat, and reached 
the lines as the enemy were about to surround them. 
Captain Grosvenor was with a detachment of rangers 
who were nearly entrapped. Lieutenants Peck and 
Newell were doubtless with Huntington's regiment, 
which lost heavily in prisoners, although they es- 
caped. So also Lieutenants Selden and Sill, in Par- 
son's old regiment, and Captain Huntington and 
Lieut. Heart in Wyllys'. Probably Captain Hez- 
ekiah Wyllys, brother of Col. Samuel, was with 
Chester's regiment, as the Adjutant, Benjamin Tall- 
madge, certainly was. " This was the first time in 
my life," says the latter, " that I had witnessed the 
awful scene of a battle, when man was engaged 

' "Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn." L. I. Historical 
Society. 



Events in 1 776-yy. 47 

to destroy his fellow man. I well remember my 
sensations on the occasion, for they were solemn be- 
yond description, and very hardly could I bring my 
mind to be willing to attempt the life of a fellow- 
creature." ' The Adjutant, however, will develop 
fighting qualities before long. In the afternoon the 
enemy approached the fortified line, but were checked 
by a sharp fire from the forts. Col. Hitchcock seems 
to have been directing matters in person at Fort 
Putnam on the left, where he received some injury 
which obliged him to retire. Two days later he 
wrote to Col. Little at Fort Greene : 

" The Wrench I rec*^ in my Back by the Starting of my Horse 
at my Gun just as I was mounting him, was so great that I 
scarcely got off from my Bed next Day, but feel much better of 
it now ; I hear the Regulars have built a Fort on the Hill east of 
Fort Putnam ; I am astonished that our People are not building 
two Forts where you & I have always contended for Forts to be 
built. For Heaven's Sake apply to the Generals yourself & urge 
the Necessity of it." 

The Colonel had been ordered to New Jersey 
some days before the battle, but was soon called 
back to the Brooklyn front. During his absence he 
sent a note to Little, wishing him all happi- 
ness in case of a battle. " I know," he said, " you 
will all play the man — the critical Hour of America is 
come ; beat 'em once, they are gone." 

By two o'clock on the 27th the battle was over, as 
the enemy made no serious attempt to carry the 
works. Washington sent to New York for addi- 
tional troops, and by night there were about nine 
thousand men on that side. Among the graduates 

' " Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge." New York, 1858. 



48 Yale in the Revolution, 

were Generals Scott and Wadsworth, Lieut.-Colonels 
Chandler and Russell, Brigade- Major John P. Wyllys, 
Captains Hull and Hale, probably Captains Munson 
and Gray, Lieutenants Morris, Barker, and a few 
others, in addition to those already named as being 
at the Brooklyn lines and in the battle. 

The retreat from Long Island was effected on the 
night of the 29th. Washington had already decided 
on this move, but he called a council of war to con- 
firm it. Generals Scott and Wadsworth were both 
present. The former, as far as known, is the only 
member who has left us any thing in regard to 
what transpired on the occasion beyond the final 
result. In a letter to John Jay, published in the 
third volume of the " Long Island Historical Soci- 
ety's Memoirs," he says : 

" I was summoned to a Council of War at Mr. Philip Living- 
ston's house on Thursday, 29th ult., never having had reason to 
expect a proposition for a retreat till it was mentioned. . . . 
As it was suddenly proposed, / as suddenly objected to it, from an 
aversion to giving the enemy a single inch of ground ; but 
was soon convinced by the unanswerable reasons for it. They were 
these. Invested by an enemy of above double our number from 
water to water, scant in almost every necessary of life, and with- 
out covering, and liable every moment to have the communica- 
tion between us and the city cut off by the entrance of the frigates 
into the East River between Governor's Island and Long Island ; 
which General McDougall assured us'from his own nautic expe- 
rience was very feasible. In such a situation Ave should have 
been reduced to the alternative 'of desperately attempting to cut 
our way [through] a vastly superior enemy, with the certain loss 
of a valuable stock of artillery and artillery stores, which the con- 
tinent has been collecting with great pains ; or by famine and 
fatigue have been made an easy prey to the enemy. In either 
case the campaign would have ended in the total ruin of our 



Events in i yy^-yy. 49 

army. The resolution, therefore, to retreat was unanimous, and 
tho' formed late in the day, was executed the following night with 
unexpected success." 

As we know, this retreat was skilfully managed, 
the point of embarkation being the site of the pres- 
ent Brooklyn Ferry House. Col. Tallmadge, then 
Adjutant, gives this description of it in his 
" Memoirs" : 

*' To move so large a body of troops, with all their necessary 
appendages, across a river full a mile wide, with a rapid current, 
in face of a victorious, well disciplined army, nearly three times 
as numerous as his own, and a fleet capable of stopping the navi- 
gation, so that not one boat could have passed over, seemed to 
present most formidable obstacles. But, in the face of these 
difficulties, the Commander-in-Chief so arranged his business, 
that on the evening of the 29th, by 10 o'clock, the troops began 
to retire from the lines in such a manner that no chasm was 
made in the lines, but as one regiment left their station on guard, 
the remaining troops moved to the right and left and filled up 
the vacancies, while Gen. Washington took his station at the 
ferry, and superintended the embarkation of the troops. It was 
one of the most anxious, busy nights that I ever recollect, and 
being the third in which hardly any of us had closed our eyes to 
sleep, we were all greatly fatigued. As the dawn of the next day 
approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became 
very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared 
there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very 
dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar 
manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar provi- 
dential occurrence perfectly well ; and so very dense was the 
atmosphere I could scarcely discern a man at six yards' distance. 

" When the sun rose we had just received orders to leave the 
lines, but before we reached the ferry, the Commander-in-Chief 
sent one of his Aids to order the regiment to repair again to 
their former station on the lines. Col. Chester immediately faced 
to the right about and returned, where we tarried until the sun 
had risen, but the fog remained as dense as ever. Finally, the 



50 Yale in the Revohition. 

second order arrived for the regiment to retire, and we very joy- 
fully bid those trenches a long adieu. When we reached Brook- 
lyn ferry, the boats had not returned from their last trip, but they 
very soon appeared and took the whole regiment over to New 
York ; and I think I saw Gen. Washington on the ferry stairs 
when I stepped into one of the last boats that received the 
troops. I left my horse tied to a post at the ferry. 

" The troops having now all safely reached New York, and the 
fog continuing as thick as ever, I began to think of my favorite 
horse, and requested leave to return and bring him off. Having 
obtained permission, I called for a crew of volunteers to go with 
me, and guiding the boat myself, I obtained my horse and got off 
some distance into the river before the enemy appeared in 
Brooklyn. 

** As soon as they reached the ferry, we were saluted merrily 
from their musketry, and finally by their field pieces ; but we re- 
turned in safety. In the history of warfare, I do not recollect a 
more fortunate retreat." 

From this time to the middle of December the 
British drove Washington from one position to 
another. With Brooklyn Heights in their hands, 
New York could not be held, and on September 
15th, when the enemy landed at the foot of East 
Thirty-Fourth Street, our rear forces retreated to 
Washington Heights above Harlem, where the main 
army had already gone. On our part it was very 
much of a panic, the militia, as well as several of the 
older regiments, being caught at a disadvantage. 
Washington could not get them to stand against the 
regulars in the open field. There was much running 
that day, several of our graduates doing their share 
of it, no doubt ; but we shall see how they retrieved 
themselves in later campaigns. Young Selden, 
Sill, Morris, Heart, Barker, Newell, and others, were 
among the number. Brigade-Major John P. Wyllys 



Events in 1776-'/'/. 51 

was taken prisoner. Col. Silliman and his command 
passed through the hardest and most exciting experi- 
ences, as they were the last to leave the city. They 
succeeded in retreating on the west side through the 
woods, though constantly in danger of capture. 
" What fatigues, what perils, what risks," says the 
Colonel, three days later, "did I run thro' last Sab- 
bath — a day never to be forgotten by me. Some- 
times I was in the front, sometimes in the centre, and 
sometimes in the rear of my party, which extended 
near 2 miles in length, as I marched thro' the 
woods." ' David Humphreys began his revolution- 
ary career in this retreat as a volunteer adjutant in 
Silliman's brigade. He speaks of it in his "■ Life of 
General Putnam." " Before our brigade came in," 
he says, "we were given up for lost by all our 
friends. So critical indeed was our situation, and so 
narrow the gap by which we escaped, that the instant 
we had passed, the enemy closed it by extending 
their line from river to river." 

On the following day, September i6th, occurred 
the battle of Harlem Heights, which was so much of 
a success for us that the soldiers forgot the experi- 
ences of the day before and quickly recovered their 
spirits. The fighting was brought on by Colonel 
Knowlton's Rangers who stirred up the advance 
parties of the enemy, and then, with the assistance 
of other troops, defeated them on Bloomingdale 
heights below Manhattanville. Among the officers 
of the Rangers — a small but picked body of about 

' For other interesting extracts from Col. Silliman's letters in this campaign, 
see third vol. of the " L. I. Hist. See. Memoirs," already referred to. 



52 Yale in the Revolution. 

one hundred and thirty men — was Captain Thomas 
Grosvenor, class of 1765, who figured at Bunker 
Hill. 

There should have been in this action another 
officer of Knowlton's corps, graduate of 1773, who 
would have taken special delight in driving the British 
back to their camp, but who was just then absent 
from the army on a dangerous errand. 

This was Nathan Hale. 

A cherished name we have here, and a story so 
generally familiar that its repetition seems almost 
superfluous. For the purposes of the record, the 
details of the case are presented in the biographical 
sketch of Hale, while in this connection it may suffice 
to notice the associations through which his memory 
has been perpetuated. 

Young Hale, of Coventry, Conn., captain in Col. 
Charles Webb's regiment, had been in the army more 
than a year without having rendered, as he felt, any 
real service to the country. Soon after the battle of 
Long Island he joined the Rangers, with whom he 
hoped to be more active in the field. Learning that 
Washington was anxious to ascertain the exact dis- 
position and probable designs of the enemy, he vol- 
unteered to enter their lines in disguise and obtain 
the information. Crossing- from Stamford to Lonor 
Island, he made his observations in Howe's camp, 
and was about to return when he was detected, con- 
demned as a spy, and executed in New York on the 
2 2d of September. A British officer who brought 
word of his fate to the American lines, stated that 
after his arrest Hale conducted himself with dignity. 



Events m 1776-y'/, 53 

gave his name, rank, and mission, and finally, just^ 
before his execution, expressed the sentiment that 
has immortalized him as one of the noblest sacrifices 
of the Revolution. " I only regret," was the sub- 
stance of his words, " that I have but one life to lose 
for my country." 

But slight public notice was taken of Hale's fate 
at the time, and for four years after the records make 
no reference to him whatever. "i'This was not alto- 
gether Strang^. Under the laws of war his execution 
could not be condemned, and failed to become a 
subject of ofificial communication. The news shocked 
his friends in the army, and, doubtless, as they 
learned of his noble act of devotion, his memory 
became doubly endeared to them. But possibly, also, 
they felt that he had made a mistake, that the situa- 
tion did not demand the sacrifice, and that to make 
much of his martyrdom might appear to be an exalta- 
tion of the role of a spy. Time would do his char- 
acter justice ; and so Hale's fate passed out of mind 
as one of the sadder " casualties " of the campaicm. 

In September, 1780, the American army was 
startled by the announcement of the arrest of Major 
Andre, Adjutant-General of the British forces, as a 
spy. His trial and execution followed. Every 
attempt was made by the enemy to save his life, and 
in our own camp, his youth, address, and rank excited 
universal sympathy. But here was Hale's case pre- 
cisely, or in all its essentials. Andre as a spy at 
once gave dignity and character to Hale as a spy ; 
little could be said for the one that could not be said 
for the other. The latter's memory was immedi- 



54 Yale in the Revohttion. 

ately revived, and, we may imagine, with a freedom 
and satisfaction which could not well be assumed in 
1776. It happened that Major Benjamin Tallmadge, 
one of Hale's classmates and closest friends, was 
Andre's real captor, while most of his college com- 
panions and several of the officers of his old regiment 
who were in the service with him in 1776 were still 
to be found In Washington's camp. Some had been 
promoted to responsible positions. No doubt they 
all had much to say for Hale at a moment when so 
much kindly feeling was extended to Andre. While 
there is do direct evidence that the court which con- 
demned Andre was at all influenced by Hale's case 
as a precedent, it seems certain that they knew of it 
(Lafayette, for one, as he states in his " Memoirs"), 
and that among officers generally the cases were dis- 
cussed and regarded as parallel. From that time 
Hale's memory became in some sort a Revolutionary 
heirloom. 

As confirming these statements, it is interesting to 
notice, that, as far as known, it was at this time that 
the first extended mention of Hale's fate appeared in 
print, and in the same relation to Andre's name in 
which it has been almost invariably mentioned ever 
since. The extract is from the Boston Chronicle as 
reprinted in the London Remembrancer in 1 782. After 
noticing the consideration paid to Andre the writer 
proceeds : 

" But while we pay the debt of humanity to our enemies, let us 
not forget what we owe to our friends. About four years ago, 
Capt. Hale, an American officer, of a liberal education, younger 
than Andr^, and equal to him in sense, fortitude, and every manly 



Events in ///d-//. 55 

accomplishment, though without opportunities of being so highly- 
polished, voluntarily went into the city of New York, with a view 
to serve his invaded country. He performed his part there with 
great capacity and address, but was accidentally discovered. In 
this trying circumstance he exhibited all the firmness of Andre, 
without the aid of a single countenance around him that spoke 
either respect or compassion, and though every thing that was 
said or done to him was adapted to make him feel that he 
was considered as a traitor and a rebel. Andre appeared great 
in not contesting the clear grounds upon which he was con- 
demned, and in refusing to employ the absurd and frivolous 
pleas that Clinton would have put into his mouth. Hale, 
though not at all disconcerted, made no plea for himself, and 
firmly rejected the advantageous offers made him by the enemy 
upon condition of his entering into their service. Andre earn- 
estly wished the mode of his death might have been more like 
that of a soldier ; but consoled himself by observing, that in 
either way it would be "but a moment's pang." Hale, calm and 
collected, took no notice of either of those circumstances. Andre 
as he was going to die, with great presence of mind and the most 
engaging air, bowed to all around him, and returned the respect 
that had been and was still paid to him ; and said : " Gentlemen, 
you will bear witness that I die with the firmness becoming a sol- 
dier." Hale had received no such respects, and had none to re- 
turn ; but just before he expired, said, aloud : " I am so satisfied 
with the cause in which I have engaged, that my only regret is, 
that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service." 

It was during the interval between the battle ofv 
Long Island and the loss of New York that David 
Bushnell, class of 1775, attempted to prove the utility 
of a torpedo boat he invented while in college. He 
proposed to blow up one of the British ships of war 
down the bay, but the practical operator not having 
become sufficiently familiar with the working of the 
machine, the attempt failed. Bushnell continued his 
experiments and showed much ingenuity as a mech- 



56 Yale in the Revolution. 

anician. He is regarded, by competent military 
critics, as the originator of modern submarine war- 
fare. Gen. Henry L. Abbot, of the Corps of En- 
gineers in our own army, conceding this distinction 
to Bushnell, has become so far interested in his 
various efforts as to collect and print all accounts re- 
ferring to them, for the benefit of the Engineer School 
of Application at Willet's Point, L. I. His conclu- 
sions in the case are : (i) that Bushnell was the first 
to perceive and illustrate by experiment that the press- 
ure of water alone may develop an intensity of action 
in a submarine explosion sufficient to destroy a vessel 
in the vicinity ; (2) that it was he who gave the name 
" torpedo " to a case containing a charge of gun- 
powder to be fired under water ; (3) that he in- 
troduced the use of submarine boats, and of drifting 
torpedoes both coupled by a line and floating freely 
with the tide, for attacking hostile shipping.' Bush- 
nell subsequently became a Captain in the Corps of 
Sappers and Miners, under Washington's Chief of 
Engineers. 

After the capture of New York the enemy moved 
toward White Plains, where the battle of Oct. 28th 
occurred between portions of the two armies. 
Among graduates engaged were Cols. Silliman, 
Chandler, and Chester, Capt. Hull, Brigade- Major 
Tallmadge, and some others. The victory was 
claimed by both sides, but Washington again re- 



> " The Beginning of Modern Submarine Warfare, under Captain David 
Bushnell, Sappers and Miners, Army of the Revolution. Being a Historical 
Compilation Arranged by Lieut. -Colonel Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers, 
U. S. A., Brevet Brigadier General. 1881." 

See Biographical Sketch of Bushnell. 



Events i7^ ly/S-yy. s7 

treated to North Castle, and finally withdrew into 
New Jersey. To the misfortunes of the campaign 
was added the loss of Fort Washington with many 
prisoners, among whom were most of Col. Bradley's 
regiment. The Colonel being absent sick, escaped 
capture. Washington continued his retreat to the 
Delaware and into Pennsylvania, with but the rem- 
nant of an army under his command. The British 
following closely, appeared, by the middle of Decem- 
ber, to be complete masters of the situation. 

In this depressing moment Washington did not 
stand alone. Strong men extended their sympathy 
and support. Gov. Livingston, for one, dropped 
him a line of cheer as he passed down through New- 
ark. Congress was devising means for giving him a 
better army the next year, and its members wrote 
hopeful letters. Two from Wolcott may illustrate, 
one written before the campaign opened, and the 
other at the close. May 4, 1776, he says : 

'' In such tempestuous Times no one can say what the events 
of things may be, tho' I have no apprehension that Great Britain 
can subjugate this country ; to give us much trouble is doubtless 
in her power, and a people engaged in war must not always ex- 
pect prosperity in all their undertakings. God has indeed in a 
wonderful manner hitherto granted us his protection, and I hope 
he will still continue it. Possess your own mind in peace. For- 
titude not only enables us to bear evils, but prevents oftentimes 
those which would otherwise befal us. I do not apprehend any 
personal danger, and if I did, I hope I never shall betray that 
baseness as to shrink from it, but I do think it is not unlikely 
we may have a troublesome summer. And if so, let every one 
bear his part of the publick calamity with fortitude." 

Wolcott was a short time with the army at New 



58 Yale in the Revohttioit. 

York, and then returned to Congress. The news of 
the defeats does not seem to have depressed him, 
and on Dec. 13, after New York and New Jersey 
were lost to the enemy, he still wrote with a brave 
heart : 

" Whatever events may take place, the American cause will be 
supported to the last, and I trust in God that it will succeed. 
The Grecian, Roman, and Dutch states were in their infancy re- 
duced to the greatest Distress, infinitely beyond what we have 
yet experienced. The God who governs the Universe, and 
who holds Empires in his Hand, can with the least effort of his 
will grant us all that security, opulence, and Renown which they 
have enjoyed. The present scene, it is true, appears somewhat 
gloomy ; but the natural or more obvious Cause seems to be owing 
to the term of enlistment of the Army having expired. I hope we 
may have a most respectable one before long established. The 
Business of war is the result of Experience." * 

But presently, as we know, there came an unex- 
pected turn of affairs in the battles of Trenton and 
Princeton. With twenty-four hundred troops Wash- 
ington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, and 
in a storm of snow and sleet dashed into Trenton 
and captured nearly one thousand Hessians. This 
was a brilliant stroke, which in a few days was to be 
followed by another of still greater importance in its 
moral effect. Returning to Trenton, Washington, 
on the night of Jan. 2d, found himself in a hazardous 
position on the east side of Assanpink Creek, with 
Cornwallis facing him and blocking his escape should 
he be defeated in the expected battle on the next 
day. Safety lay in outwitting Cornwallis during the 
night. The stratagem of the camp fires, the silent 

' Letters from Gen. Oliver Wolcott to his wife, in the " Wolcott Memorial." 




Tin^Kei ly T Bjljin h.!ir. d f .1 .■^' aj TiyXaile ial782 . 








Events in 1 776-'/'/. 59 

withdrawal from the enemy's front, the night march 
to Princeton, the cut through the British lines, the 
march on to Morristown, the recovery of New 
Jersey, and the baffling of all Howe's plans, are a 
familiar story. Walpole, hearing of these surprises, 
wrote : " Washino-ton has shown himself both a 
Fabius and a Camillus. His march through our lines 
is allowed to have been a prodigy of generalship." 

Among our graduates participating in these ma- 
noeuvres were Cols. Hitchcock, Chester, and Paterson, 
Major Sherman, Capts. Hull, Grosvenor and Ashley, 
and probably Chaplain Avery, Lieutenants Watson, 
Elderkin, Flint, and others. Wilkinson states in his 
" Memoirs," that Sherman led the van of the army on 
the night march to Princeton. He was then in 
Glover's brigade. Hull leaves us a letter fresh from 
the Trenton field as follows : 

. . . "... On the evening of the 25th ult., we were 
ordered to March to a ferry [McConkey's] about twelve miles 
from Trenton, where was stationed near two Thousand Hessians. 
As violent a Storm ensued of Hail & Snow as ever I felt. The 
Artillery and Infantry all were across the Ferry about 12 O'clock, 
consisting of only twenty-one hundred, principally New Eng- 
land Troops. In this Violent Storm we marched on for Trenton. 
Before Light in the Morning we gained all the Roads leading 
from Trenton. The Genl. gave orders that every Officer's Watch 
should be set by his, and the moment of attack was fixed. Just 
after Light, we came to their out Guard, which fired upon us 
and retreated. The first sound of the Musquetry and Retreat of 
the Guards animated the Men and they pushed on with Resolu- 
tion and Firmness. Happily the fire begun on every Side at the 
same instant, their Main body had just time to form when there 
ensued a heavy Cannonade from our Field Pieces and a fine brisk 
and lively fire from our Infantry. This Continued but a Short 
time before the Enemy finding themselves flanked on every Side 



6o Yale i7i the Revolutto7'i. 

laid down their Arms. The Resolution and Bravery of our Men, 
their Order and Regularity gave me the highest Sensation of 
Pleasure. Genl. Washington highly Congratulated the Men on 
the next day in Genl. Orders, and with Pleasure observed, that 
he had been in Many Actions before, but always perceived 
some Misbehaviour in some individuals, but in that Action he 
saw none. . . . What can't Men do when engaged in so 
noble a Cause. Our Men's Time expired Yesterday ; they have 
generally engaged to Tarry six weeks longer. My company 
almost to a Man. Orders have now come for us to march 
for Princetown. . . . " ' 

Perhaps no one at Princeton did more effective 
service than Col. Daniel Hitchcock. He has been 
mentioned as one of Greene's favorite officers from 
Rhode Island, present at the siege of Boston and 
through the New York campaign. His regiment 
constructed and manned the left of the lines at 
Brooklyn, and just now he was commanding a brigade. 
One of his old soldiers remembers him as " an 
accomplished gentleman " and " fine officer," equalled 
by few in the army. On the morning of Jan. 3d, as 
the troops neared Princeton, Mawhood's British regi- 
ment delayed the column. It repulsed Mercer's 
brigade as well as Cadwallader's militia. This prov- 
ing too serious a matter, Washington personally 
assisted in rallying the men, and at the same time 
sent word to Hitchcock to attack the enemy on the 
right. Hitchcock immediately drew up his com- 
mand, reduced now to less than six hundred men, 
and advancing to within one hundred yards of the 
British, opened fire, " rushed on with intrepidity," as 

' Letter from Capt. Wm. Hull to Hon. Andrew Adams, Litchfield, Conn., 
Trenton, Jan. i, 1777. In " Legacy of Historical Gleanings," by Mrs. C. V. 
R. Bonney, vol. i., p. 57. Munsell, Albany, 1875. 



Events in ly/d-yy. 6i 

one of his own officers says, drove them from the field, 
and captured their two pieces of artillery. The 
militia recovered themselves and also rushed forward. 
Hitchcock's timely and successful attack helped to 
clear the way and the troops all passed on to Prince- 
ton. We are told that after the action Washington 
took Hitchcock by the hand in front of Princeton 
College and publicly thanked him and his brigade for 
their gallant conduct. These troops had also bravely 
defended the bridge across the Assanpink on the 
previous evening. Their service seems to have 
become known and appreciated, as we find Dr. Benj. 
Rush writing, Jan. 6th, from Bordentown, to Richard 
Henry Lee, of Virginia, as follows : " Much credit is 
due to a brigade of New England men commanded 
by Colonel Hitchcock in both actions [Jan. 2d, p.m. 
and Jan. 3d, a.m.] ; they sustained a heavy fire from 
musketry and artillery for a long time without mov- 
ing ; they are entitled to a great share of the honour 
acquired by our arms at Princetown." 

These return strokes put a glorious finish to an 
otherwise gloomy campaign. The men of the Revo- 
lution attached the greatest importance to them, as 
we know from many sources. Among others, Col. 
Chester tells us something of their immediate effect 
in a letter to Col. Webb, his old Bunker Hill lieuten- 
ant, but now aid to Washington, as follows : 

" We all Congratulate you on the honor you have lately shared 
in the victories over our Common Enemy, and pray for a continu- 
ation of successes, till they may be obliged to quit the Land or 
kneel to Great George the American. You Cannot conceive the 
Joy & Raptures the people were universally in as we passed the 



62 Yale in the Revolution. 

road. 'T is good to be the messenger of Glad Tidings. We 
were the first that brought the news to Peeks Kill of y"" Trenton 
affair. Gen' Heath thought it a matter well worth forwarding by 
Express to Boston, which he did. We have such vague, uncertain 
accounts of these matters in general that I cannot but think that 
it would richly pay the expence of forwarding accounts of this 
kind by express. They make an amazing alteration in the faces 
of men & things. . . . " ' 

This campaign entailed the loss of many good 
officers and men, especially from hardship and dis- 
ease. Among the graduates, Col. Fisher Gay, of 
Farmington, was the first whose death is recorded. 
Taken ill a short time before the battle of Long- 
Island, he either died or was buried on the day of 
the battle, August 27th. "Freedom or Death," are 
the words inscribed on his sword, still preserved by 
his descendants. Capt. Jabez Hamlin died in camp 
September 20th. Capt. Nathan Hale's name appears 
for the last time on the rolls of his regiment as 
"Killed, Sept, 22, 1776." Chaplain Ebenezer Bald- 
win, a much loved pastor of Danbury, who went into 
the service with his parishioners, fell a victim to camp 
malady in October. Col. Mark Hopkins, a lawyer 
in the prime of life and reputation in Berkshire Co., 
Mass., died from exhaustion at White Plains, Octo- 
ber 27th, the day before the battle. Lieut. Jonathan 
Bellamy, son of the well-known divine, died of small- 
pox in New Jersey, January 4, 1777. Last, a great 

' Letter dated Wethersfield, Jan. 17, 1777. From the original in the Webb 
MSS. 

Gen. Heath says in his Memoirs, Dec. 30, 1776 : "Col. Chester, of Connec- 
ticut, arrived at Peek's Kill, from Gen. Washington's camp, with the agreeable 
news, that the preceding Thursday morning, being the 26th, Gen. Washington, 
at the head of about 3,000 men, crossed the Delaware, and attacked the enemy 
at Trenton," etc. 



Events in lyjO-yj. 



63 



loss, indeed — the noble Hitchcock, who is said to 
have been suffering from fever when he dashed into 
the Princeton fight, succumbed to the severities of 
the campaign and died at Morristown, January 13, 
1777. "He was buried," writes Greene, "with all 
the honors of war, as the last mark of respect we 
could show him." 





EVENTS IN 1777-y^. 

The New Continental Army — Graduates in its Ranks — The Danbury Raid and 
Death of Gen. Wooster — Events in Pennsylvania — Battle of Germantown 
— Lieut. Morris, Prisoner — The Burgoyne Campaign — Graduates Engaged 
— Letters from Gen. Wolcott and Capt. Seymour — Col. Brown's Ex- 
ploit — The Surrender — Washington's Congratulations — Letters from Gens. 
Scott and Silliman. 

The disasters of 1776 developed the need of a dis- 
ciplined and permanent force with which to meet the 
enemy in the contests to come. Congress provided 
for one by ordering the enlistment of eighty-eight 
battalions of infantry, to be apportioned among the 
States, of which Massachusetts was to furnish fifteen, 
Connecticut eight. New York four, Pennsylvania 
twelve, and the rest in like ratio, according to popu- 
lation. Sixteen other regiments were to be raised on 
an independent basis, in addition to the usual artil- 
lery and cavalry complement. Long enlistments were 
substituted for short terms, the selection of officers 
was made with more regard to their fitness, a stricter 
military code was observed, and the departments 
generally reorganized. This new army, recruited in 
the early months of 1777, was known as the " second 
establishment" — that of 1776, organized at Boston, 
being the first, — and is familiar to us as the regular 
Continental Line of the Revolution. While the 
troops of each State were, as far as possible, brigaded 
together, and each State recruited its own " Line," 

64 



Eve7tts in lyyj-yS. 65 

and occasionally clothed and provisioned it, as an 
army they were wholly under the control of Congress 
and the Commander-in-chief. Congress, through its 
President, issued the officers' commissions, regulated 
promotions, purchased supplies and material, and 
provided the pay. It was this force, thus placed 
upon a proper footing, that was to be Washington's 
main dependence through the war ; and under his 
cautious and skilful leadership it proved equal to the 
emergency. At times defeated and frequently re- 
duced to privation, it was as often victorious, and in 
the end saved the country. 

Looking through the scattered rolls of this army — 
the true " Continentals " of the war, — we continue to 
find graduates down for service, many of whom, being 
soldiers of 1775 and 1776, seem in this way to have 
pledged themselves to fight it out to the end. Gen- 
eral David Wooster was still a Continental brigadier. 
Colonel John Paterson was, in March of this year, 
promoted to the same rank. The Third, Fifth, and 
Eiorhth of the new reg^iments of the Connecticut Line 
were commanded respectively by Colonels Samuel 
Wyllys, Philip B. Bradley, and John Chandler, the 
latter having Giles Russell, a veteran of the French 
and Indian war, and of the last campaign, for 
his lieutenant-colonel. Major Isaac Sherman, who 
served the previous year with Massachusetts troops, 
was transferred to Connecticut, and became Lieut.- 
Colonel of the Second Resfiment. On the other 
hand, Captain William Hull left his Connecticut 
associations and was appointed Major of the Eighth 
Massachusetts. Both these appointments followed 



66 Yale in the Revohttion. 

upon Washington's recommendation, and both men 
subsequently did noteworthy service and received fur- 
ther promotion. Captains Thomas Grosvenor, Eben- 
ezer Huntington, and Ebenezer Gray appear this 
year as majors, and the former, also as lieut.-colonel 
under Wyllys. Huntington joined Colonel Samuel 
B. Webb's independent or " additional " regiment, 
which prided itself on its personnel, and made a good 
record. It was quite a Yale corps — its major, sur- 
geon, five of its eight captains, and two or more 
lieutenants in 1777-78 being graduates. The sur- 
geon was Jeremiah West ; the captains, John P. 
Wyllys, Thomas Wooster, Joseph Walker, James 
Watson, Samuel W. Williams ; and Lieutenant Roger 
Welles, who became captain in 1 780. Arranged in 
other regiments of the State Line were Captains 
Theophilus Munson, David Humphreys, Vine Elder- 
kin, Nathaniel Webb, William Judd ; Lieutenants 
James Morris, Roger Alden, Augustine Taylor, 
Moses Cleaveland, John Mix, and Nathaniel Chip- 
man. Ezra Selden, Jonathan Heart, Samuel A. S. 
Barker, Elihu Marvin, and Nehemiah Rice were five 
of the eight Connecticut adjutants, all of whom were 
subsequently promoted. William Nichols appears as 
lieutenant and regimental paymaster ; Richard Sill, 
David Judson, and John Elderkin, as lieutenants and 
quartermasters. 

On the rolls of the Massachusetts Line were to be 
found, in addition to those of Paterson and Hull, the 
names of John Porter, first as Captain and then Major 
of the Thirteenth Regiment ; of Moses Ashley, Cap- 
tain in the First ; of Daniel Lyman, Captain in Hen- 



Events in i yy/^jS. 67 

ley's "additional" regiment and aid to Gen. Heath ; 
and of Samuel Cogswell, Charles Selden and John 
Barker, three young graduates of this year's class, 
Lieutenants in Colonel Henry Jackson's Continental 
battalion, recruited mainly in Boston and vicinity. 

In the cavalry — Colonel Sheldon's Second Conti- 
nental Regiment of Dragoons — we have four officers, 
namely : the Major, Benjamin Tallmadge, who will 
make himself as famous as a soldier could wish ; Cap- 
tains Thomas Young Seymour and Ezekiel Porter 
Belden, and Quartermaster Samuel Mills. Captain 
Robert Walker, of Stratford, raised an artillery com- 
pany and joined the Second Regiment of that arm 
under Colonel Lamb. 

Several orraduates were associated with the staff 
departments. Peter Colt, a public-spirited merchant 
of New Haven, received the appointment from Con- 
gress of Commissary of Purchases for the Eastern 
States. Nathan Preston was an assistant in the de- 
partment of issues and supplies. James Davenport, 
and probably Benjamin Welles and William Little, 
served for a term in similar capacities in and out of 
Connecticut. Royall Flint became assistant to Col- 
onel Jeremiah Wadsworth, Quartermaster - General 
at Army Head-quarters. Of brigade-majors — assist- 
ant adjutant-generals they would be called to-day — 
we had a number during the war. Major Ebenezer 
Gray held this position for a short time early in 
1777, in the First Connecticut Brigade, and was suc- 
ceeded by Captain David Humphreys, for whom 
more enviable honors were in store. In Rhode 
Island, William Peck became Adjutant-General of 



68 Yale in the Revolutio?^. 

the troops gathered to watch the enemy who had 
lately seized Newport. 

As to chaplains — where in the previous year each 
regiment was entitled to one, the number was limited 
by resolution of Congress, May 27, 1777, to one for 
each brigade, with a colonel's pay and rations. They 
were to be nominated to Congress by the generals 
commanding the brigades, who were enjoined to rec- 
ommend none but " clergymen of experience, and 
established public character for piety, virtue, and 
learning." Yale was represented by at least six chap- 
lains of this grade during the war. The three ap- 
pointed in 1777-78 were Rev. Timothy Dwight, for 
Parson's First Connecticut Brigade, the Chaplain for 
the Second Brigade being the Rev. John Ellis, gradu- 
ate of Harvard ; Rev. David Avery, Fourth Massa- 
chusetts Brigade ; and Rev. William Plumbe, De 
Fermoy's Brigade at Ticonderoga. At a later date 
Rev. Abraham Baldwin succeeded Mr. Dwight, and 
Rev. William Lockwood and Joel Barlow were ap- 
pointed in the Massachusetts Line. Revs. Elihu 
Spencer and James Sproat, of New Jersey, appear as 
Chaplains to Department Hospitals. Mr. Plumbe, in 
the fall of 1777, was appointed by General Gates to 
the hospitals of the Northern Department. 

Other graduates rendered service of some kind 
within the year, either with the militia or as volun- 
teers. Colonel John Brown will add to his laurels in 
the Saratoga campaign. Colonel John Ashley, Jr., 
Major Theodore Sedgwick, Captain John Strong, 
Israel Dickinson, Samuel Ely, and doubtless Enoch 
and Joshua L. Woodbridge and William Lyman, from 



Events in 1777-78. 69 

Massachusetts, also turned out at that crisis ; as did 
Generals Wolcott, Wadsworth and Silliman, Colonel 
Joshua Porter, Dr. Elisha Sill, Noah Webster, and 
others from Connecticut, Colonel Jabez Bowen, 
Captains Ebenezer Mosely, Sanford Kingsbury, An- 
drew Hillyer, and volunteers William Edmond, John 
Depeyster Douwand Oliver Wolcott, Jr., were active.' 
James Hillhouse this year became Captain of the New 
Haven Company of Governor's Foot-Guards, and was 
thus preparing for the good service he did when the 
town was invaded by the enemy in 1779. 

Active movements on any large scale did not begin 
until half the year had gone. There was no fighting 
in the spring and early summer, except what little oc- 
curred in the course of skirmishes and expeditions, the 
most considerable of which was the British foray into 
Connecticut in April, when Danbury was pillaged. 
This cost us some public and private property — among 
other things, sixteen hundred tents, which could ill 

' Affairs at the College. — Young Edmond and Wolcott were undergradu- 
ates when they volunteered their service. They were at home, as the college had 
closed temporarily. 

Interruptions of the course occurred frequently during the war. There were 
no public commencements until 1781. College was lirst dismissed for a few 
weeifs, as stated, in April, 1775. In August, 1776, it was again dismissed, as 
Fitch says, " on account of the prevalence of the camp distemper." He seems 
not to have returned until November. " Difficulty of subsisting the students" 
required another recess from Dec. 10 to Jan. 8, 1777. Again, March 22, '77, 
Fitch writes in his diary : "This morning the President (Dr. Daggett) made 
an address to the students, informing them that on account of the impossibility 
of supplying the College with provisions, it would in a few days be dismissed ; 
and also that he had fully made up his mind to resign the presidency of the 
College." The students went home about April i, and did not return to New 
Haven till the fall. In May-June the Freshman met at Farmington, Sopho- 
mores and Juniors at Glastonbury, Seniors at Wethersfield, and. continued their 
studies under their tutors. 

Dr. Stiles writes in his diary : "A large class graduated Sept. 10, 1777, and 
many students entered the army ; others left College on account of its broken 
state and expenses in these tumultuous times . . . The public calamities 
& tumults affect all the colleges." Further interruptions are referred to in 
1778-79. 



70 Yale in the Revolution, 

be spared. But a loss more sensibly felt, especially 
by the Connecticut people, was that of their senior 
major-general of militia, who fell mortally wounded 
in the affair. This was the veteran Wooster, the 
oldest of our graduates then in the field. His death 
was in every way a noble one, not only on account 
of the soldierly qualities he displayed at the time, 
but peculiarly in view of the happy patriotic temper 
which had governed him from the outset. Upon his 
recall from Canada in the spring of 1 776 he demanded 
an investigation at the hands of Congress, and was 
acquitted of all blame for misfortunes in that quarter. 
Prejudices, however, existed against him. partly on 
account of his age, and he was ordered to report to 
his home, which meant that his services would prob- 
ably not be required again in the open field. Feeling 
that this was unmerited treatment, and still having 
faith in himself, he wrote to Congress that he was 
ready for duty and abided its commands. The state- 
ment made by almost all writers on the Revolution, 
that he resioned his Continental commission on re- 
turning to Connecticut, is erroneous. Resignation 
would have been a confession of unfitness or lack of 
public spirit. He did not resign, and at the time of 
his death he was the senior brigadier in the army. 
In the meantime Connecticut appointed him Major- 
General of all the State Militia, and under this com- 
mission he was stationed on the Connecticut border, 
with head-quarters generally at Rye, during the winter 
of 1776-77. With him on his staff for short periods 
were three graduates, namely, his son, Thomas 
Wooster, and Stephen R. Bradley, Aides-de-camp, and 



Eve7tts 17^ I'/yy-'/S. 71 

Mark Leavenworth, Secretary and Deputy Adjutant- 
General. 

The Danbury raid occurred April 25th to 28th, the 
enemy's object being the destruction of stores at that 
place. Upon the landing of Gen. Tryon with some 
two thousand British troops off Norwalk, the militia 
turned out and attacked them on their return. Gens. 
Arnold and Silliman, Cols. Huntington, Lamb and 
others were conspicuously active. At Danbury, Col. 
Joseph P. Cooke, class of 1750, and at Ridgefield, 
Col. Philip B. Bradley, class of 1758, assisted in 
harassing the enemy. William Edmond, then a Sen- 
ior, afterwards Judge of the State Supreme Court, 
joined in the attack and was severely wounded. 
Young Oliver Wolcott, a Junior, also turned out as a 
volunteer. No one, however, displayed more spirit 
and activity than old General Wooster. The news 
of Tryon's landing reaching him at New Haven on 
the 26th. He immediately started for the scene of 
action, and on the following afternoon, after much 
riding and little rest, attacked one detachment of the 
British with a small body of militia. His men giving 
way, he made every effort to rally them, when he re- 
ceived a mortal wound in the back. He was removed 
to Danbury, where he expired on the 2d of May, 
"with great composure and resignation," 

Those who observed the general's movements and 
received his orders after he reached the vicinity of 
the enemy were impressed with his energy and good 
management. Arnold, Silliman and Huntington all 
speak of him in terms of high praise. The Philadel- 
phia Post, of May 13, 1777, mentioned him as follows: 



72 Yale in the Revo hit ion. 

" We hear that Gen. Wooster died the third instant, 
of his wounds in the action of the 27th ult. Although 
this brave veteran was supposed by some to have 
outlived his usefulness, yet his spirit and activity 
shone in this last action of his life with undimin- 
ished lustre." Congress voted him a monument, but 
its resolution has never been carried into effect. The 
following hitherto unpublished letter from Wooster 
is one of the last bearing on military matters that he 
wrote : 

" Rye, March iot'>, 1777. 

" Dr. Sir : — Your favor of the seventh Inst' came to hand last 
night, and for answer I must inform you that I apprehend a de- 
scent on Long Island is at present impracticable, as the enemy 
have in the Sound above thirty Ships and Tenders cruising daily 
from Fairfield to the Westward — neither have we boats sufficient 
to cross over in and what is a greater difficulty, the Term for 
which the troops here were Inlisted expires next Saturday and 
Home is the word already. 

'' I have however sent Col" Enos to wait on you and to consult 
what may be done in some future day when these Ships have re- 
turned to New York and the Sound not so infested with them, 
and you may be assured I shall ever cheerfully lend you every 
assistance in my power, to forward an enterprise which may be 
of some service to our cause. 

*' I am D"" Sir with esteem and respect 

" Your most humble serv', 

*' David Wooster, 
"The Hon""" Brigadier Gen' Parsons." 

This letter, with Wooster's portrait, sword, and 
sash, on which he was lifted from the field when 
wounded, is preserved in the President's Room at 
the college. 

The stirring events of the year occurred in the 
months of August, September, and October. We had 



Events m 1777-78. 73 

nothing more interesting in the whole course of the 
war. It was the year of Burgoyne's surrender, 
which, following the siege of Boston, Trenton, and 
Princeton, convinced the country that with continued 
exertions there could be no question as to the issue. 
The enemy's campaign plans included the isolation 
of the New England States, the control of the Hud- 
son and interior lines of communication, and the sup- 
pression of resistance to the southward as far as the 
Potomac. Burgoyne coming down from Canada 
with seven thousand choice troops was expected, with 
assistance from New York, to effect the first result ; 
and Howe, taking Philadelphia and defeating Wash- 
ington, was confident of success in that direction. 
The latter's operations were more or less successful. 
Philadelphia fell into his hands, and Washington 
was defeated at Brandywine, Sept. ii. On Oct. 4th, 
Washington partially redeemed himself by his well- 
planned attack upon the enemy at Germantown, and 
later withdrew into winter-quarters at Valley Forge. 
In these Pennsylvania operations comparatively 
few graduates participated. No Eastern troops were 
with the army at Brandywine, with the exception of 
a portion of the Second Regiment of Light Dragoons, 
recruited mainly in Connecticut. Benjamin Tall- 
madge had lately been promoted Major of this corps, 
and with him may have been Capt. E. P. Belden and 
Lieutenant Mills, but they were not actually engaged 
in the battle. At Germantown, however, they were 
at the front, Tallmadge himself being at the head of 
Sullivan's column. The First Connecticut Brigade 
had joined the army by that time and was engaged 



74 Yale in the Revolution, 

under Gen. McDougall on the extreme left. Pub- 
lished accounts of the battle hardly refer to Mc- 
Dougall and one writer, an officer present in the ac- 
tion, asserts that he never reached the field. This 
is a mistake so far as the Connecticut troops were 
concerned, as we know from several sources. A let- 
ter in the Trumbull collection, written apparently by 
Col. John Chandler, class of 1759, states that his 
regiment lost twenty-two and that Col. Bradley's loss 
was "something more." Other graduates in Mc- 
Dougall's command were Lieut.-Col. Russell, Maj. 
Gray, Capts. Webb and Munson, and Lieuts. Taylor, 
Rice, Sill, Judson, Daggett, and Morris. The latter, 
James Morris, class of 1775, afterwards a well-known 
citizen of Litchfield, Conn., was taken prisoner at 
Germantown and has left us an account of his ex- 
periences while in the enemy's hands. The follow- 
ing is an extract : 

"We encamped between the River Lehigh and Philadelphia, 
an d on the evening of the 3d of October 1777, the army had orders 
to march. About 6 o'clock, on said evening, the army under the 
immediate command of General Washington began their march 
for Germantown. I left my baggage and my bible, which my 
father bought for me when I was six years old, in my trunk. I 
marched with only my military suit and my implements of war, 
without any change of dress or even a blanket. We marched 
that evening and reached Germantown by break of day, the 
morning of the 4th, a distance of about 20 miles. The memor- 
able battle of Germantown then commenced. Our army was ap- 
parently successful in driving the enemy from their encampment, 
and victory in the outset seemed to perch on our standards. 

" But the success of the day by the misconduct of General Ste- 
phens turned against us. Many fell in battle and about 500 of our 
men were made prisoners of war who surrendered at discretion. 



Events m i y/y-yS. 75 

I being in the first company, at the head of our column, that began 
the attack upon the enemy — consequently I was in the rear in the 
retreat. Our men then undisciplined were scattered. I had 
marched with a few men nearly lo miles before I was captured, 
continually harassed by the British Dragoons and the light in- 
fantry. I finally surrendered to save life with the few men then 
under my command and marched back to Germantown under a 
guard. 

" Samuel Stannard, my waiter, a strong athletic man, carried my 
blanket and provisions, with a canteen of whiskey ; he had made 
his escape, and was not taken. Of course I was left without any 
refreshment from break of day in the morning through the whole 
day ; thus I was driven back to Germantown after performing a 
march of about forty miles from the evening before at six 
o'clock. I reached Germantown a prisoner of war about sunset 
fatigued and much exhausted. I was the last officer taken with 
about twenty men — the rest that had been taken early in the day 
were conveyed to Philadelphia. The evening of the 4th of Oc- 
tober was very cold. I was put under a quarter guard with the 
few men with me in an open field around a small fire ; no pr'^- 
vision Avas made for the Prisoners ; the men with me had a little 
food in their knapsacks, but I had none. A little after sundown 
I was shivering with the cold. I asked the sergeant of the Guard 
if I might see the Commander of the Regiment ; he informed me 
that he quartered in such a house about twenty rods distant — the 
sergeant, who was manly and sympathetic, waited on me to the 
house, and informed the Commander that there was an American 
Officer, a prisoner, at the door who wanted to see him. The 
Colonel said that he would see him after he had done supper. 
Accordingly I sat down on the stoop before the door, and after 
sitting about fifteen minutes the Colonel came out and sat down 
on the stoop with me ; he asked me many questions respecting 
my motives for going into the war and rising up in rebellion 
against my lawful sovereign, and I answered him pleasantly and 
as evasively as I could consistently with decency. He asked me 
what I wanted. I told him that I was in a suffering condition ; 
I had no blanket or any covering to shield me from the cold. I 
wished for liberty to sleep in the house, and that I stood in need 
of some refreshment. The Colonel ordered his servants to get 



76 Yale in the Revolution. 

me some victuals, and said I might go into the room where they 
were. I went into the room. The servants very politely spread 
a table, set on some good old spirits and a broiled chicken well 
cooked, with excellent bread and other food of the best kind. 
The servants sat off in the room and waited on me in the best man- 
ner. This was really the sweetest meal of victuals that I ever ate. 
When I had done supper I asked the sergeant who had conducted 
me there what the Colonel said respecting my lodging in the 
house. 

" The sergeant replied that the Colonel told him that I was not 
on parole, and that he was not authorized to grant a parole of 
honor, and that I must go out and be with the guard. I then 
asked the sergeant if I could be furnished with a blanket for that 
night. The soldiers who were waiters to the Colonel immediately 
brought me a large and clean rose blanket, and said it should be 
for my use that night. I accordingly went out into the field and 
lay down among the soldiers who were prisoners, wrapped myself 
in the blanket, kept my hat on my head, and slept sweetly thro 
the night. Before I lay down the sergeant informed me that he 
observed that I had a watch in my pocket, and that I had silver 
knee-buckles ; that if I would give them to his care he would re- 
turn them to me in the morning, for the soldiers of the guard 
would probably rob me of them when I was asleep. I accord- 
ingly committed them to his safe keeping, who very honorably 
returned them to me the next morning, it being the 5th of Octo- 
ber. The prisoners this day had their allowance of provisions 
dealt out to them for the day. These were cooked by the soldiers 
who were prisoners, and I partook with them in one common 
mess. Near sunset of the 5th the prisoners were ordered to be 
escorted by a guard to Philadelphia, the distance about six miles. 
I thus marched on and arrived at the new jail in Philadelphia 
about eight o'clock in the evening. I was locked into a cold room 
destitute of every thing but cold stone walls and bare floors ; no 
kind of a chair to sit on ; all total darkness ; no water to drink 
or a morsel to eat ; destitute of a blanket to cover me. . . . 
Morning finally arrived, and at a late hour we were furnished with 
some very hard sea bread and salted pork, and I was able to ob- 
tain some water to drink. Being altogether moneyless, I could 
purchase nothing for my comfort. 



Events in ly/y-yS. ^j^ 

" I pretty soon sold my watch for half its value, and with the 
money I received for it I was able to procure some food pleasant 
to my taste. I wholly gave up my allowance of provisions to the 
poor soldiers. At this time and in this jail were confined 700 
prisoners of war, a few small rooms were sequestered for the ofh- 
cers ; each room must contain sixteen men. We fully covered 
the whole floor when we lay down to sleep, and the poor soldiers 
were shut into rooms of the same magnitude with double the 
number. The soldiers were soon seized with the jail fever, as it 
was called, and it swept off in the course of three months 400 
men, who were all buried in one continued grave without coffins ; 
the lengih of a man was the width of the grave, lying three deep 
or one upon another. I thus lived in jail from the 5th of Octo- 
ber, 1777, till the month of May, 1778." ' 

At the North the more desperate and vital struggle 
with Burgoyne had been in progress. Graduates were 
enpfaofed here as elsewhere. Gen. Paterson and his 
brigade of four Massachusetts regiments formed 
about one third of Gates' Continental force, which 
did the main fighting. In this force were Maj. Hull, 
who was closely engaged in the battle of Sept. 19th, 
Major Porter, and Captain Ashley. Captain Thomas 
Y. Seymour was also there with the only company 
of Continental Dragoons in Gates' army. As for 
militia and volunteers such numbers hurried forward 
at the last moment that probably many names were 
never enrolled. Among them, for instance, was 
young Noah Webster, still a Junior at college, who 
tells us that a large body went from Connecticut. 
" My father and my two brothers," he writes, "were 
in the service. I also shouldered a musket and 
marched as a volunteer, leaving at home no person 

' From the original MSB. in possession of Hon. Dwight Morris, late Secre- 
tary of State of Connecticut, son of James Morris, the Revolutionary officer. 



78 Yale in the Revolution. 

but my mother and a sister to take charge of the 
farm." ' With the force on the Hudson under Gen. 
Putnam, who endeavored to prevent Clinton from 
New York from co-operating with Burgoyne, were 
quite a number of graduates — namely, Col. Wyllys, 
Lt.-Cols. Sherman and Grosvenor, Maj. Huntington, 
Capts. Wyllys, Judd, Wooster, Walker, Brigade- 
Major David Humphreys, Lieuts. Williams, Heart, 
Alden, Cleaveland, Chipman, Mix, and Barker, all of 
whom were Continentals. They were doubtless at 
that time with their regiments. Gens. Wadsworth 
and Silliman commanded militia under Putnam, and 
in all probability other graduates marched with them. 
Gen. Wolcott, with instructions which left him free 
to report anywhere, pushed on with about three 
hundred volunteers directly to Gates' camp, Lieut.- 
Col. Joshua Porter having preceded him with a 
State regiment which fought well in the action of 
Freeman's Farm, Sept. 19th. 

An extract from one of Gen. Wolcott's letters to 
Gov. Trumbull, written after Burgoyne had been 
twice defeated and a few days before his surrender, 
runs as follows : 

"Camp Beames Heights, Oct° lo, 1777. 
" Sir : 

" I came to this camp the 30 ultimo with a little more than 300 
men. The apparent exigency of our affairs in this Department 
and the probability of affording some useful succour to this army, 
were, as I observed in my former letter, my Inducements to this 
undertaking. How far the step which I have taken has been ap- 
proved of by your Excellency and Council of Safety I have not 
been told, but as I was directed to afford such aid to this army 
as I tho't proper, it was my opinion and the opinion of all 

' From the same MSS. quoted on page 13. See biographical sketch. 



Events ii^ 1 777-7 S. 79 

Gentlemen whom I Consulted that the enemy could not be 
so deeply wounded anywhere as in this quarter, and I am happy 
to find that the success which has attended our military opera- 
tions in this department has justified my opinion. , . . 

** Our army are on their Front flank, and on the opposite side 
of the River. Yesterday & in the evening especially the enemy 
appeared to be in the greatest Confusion and Distress — environed 
on every side by our army, their baggage scattered & a good deal 
of it destroyed by themselves. A great number of their horses 
are killed on the Road and several Hundred Barrels of Provisions 
fallen into our hands. Our army the last night lay on their arms 
to renew the attack this morning. What will be the events of the 
day, God only knows, but in all probability it will end in at least 
the total loss of all the enemy's artillery stores & baggage, if not 
of the greater part of their army. I cannot well conceive of an 
army being bro't into a worse situation than that of the enemy's. 
But the fate of it will be fully known in two or three days. May 
it please a merciful God to grant that the kindest events may take 
place as it respects ourselves. It is my belief that the events of 
the campaign in this quarter will open to us the brightest scene, 
and will involve in it consequences which will fully establish the 
American Independency — and altho' our affairs put on a dis- 
agreeable aspect in other parts yet an aurora borealis from this 
quarter will dispel the dismal gloom. . . ." ' 

Another letter from the field we have in the follow- 
ing from Capt. Seymour to his father at Hartford. 
It was written the day after the battle of Freeman's 
Farm : 

" Hon" Sir : — I now attempt to give a relation of an engage- 
ment between the enemy's whole Force and Gen' Arnold's Divi- 
sion — it began in the morning of the 19th instant between some 
Advanced Parties till noon, — soon after which it became general, 
and an incessant Fire continued the whole day, we obliging the 
enemy to quit the Field for three times, though they obstinately 
contended to keep possession of it. The action was Bloody & 
would undoubtedly have been decided had not the night parted 
* From the ' ' Wolcott Memorial." Original in Trumbull Papers. 



8o Yale in the Revohitio7t. 

us. In the course of the Day i,ooo were killed of the enemy & 
46 taken prisoners, all British troops as they were in front. We 
lost in the above action 34 killed, 120 Avounded & missing. Some 
officers of distinction were lost on our side, such as two Colonels 
and some of a less degree. The militia of our State was engaged 
& behaved bravely. Capt. Wadsworth of Hartford in particular 
has done himself eternal Honor, tho' I am afraid [the] good man 
is mortally wounded. One of Mr. Tucker's sons was instantly 
killed after acting the soldier. Our Tents are all struck, and we 
momently expect to put an end to the Warr in this Department — 
God grant us success in a day so big with important Events. Gen. 
Lincoln is in the rear of the enemy, & will disappoint all possible 
hopes of a retreat ; their situation, as I observed in a former let- 
ter, is desperate, for they fought as if it was so, yet the Spirit of 
our Troops & a Consciousness of the Justice of our Cause made 
us an overmatch for them. The army still continue in spirits 
and are doubly animated from the late engagement. I still con- 
tinue to be in health notwithstanding I experience great fatigues. 

" I am, &c., 

" Thos. Y. Seymour. 

" P. S. — Various reports say Gen' Burgoyne rec'' a fatal shot in 
the action above mentioned — we are this day joined by 200 Indi- 
ans of the Onoiada Tribe & with the Riflemen are now gone to 
beat up the enemy's quarters. This letter I hope will be excused, 
as it was written on my knee under arms. 

"Camp advanced of Still Water, Sept. 20, 1777." * 

We may expect, also, to find Col. John Brown very 
active in this quarter. Perfectly familiar with the 
region about Ticonderoga, he undertook, with the 
approval of Gen. Lincoln, to attack the garrison at 
that point, and break up Burgoyne's communications. 
With five hundred men he marched through the 
woods, "where," as one of his of^cers says, "man 
never marched before, except the Indian," and on 

' From the original among the Trumbull Papers in the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, Boston. 



Events in ly/y-yS. 8i 

the morning of September i8th surprised the enemy's 
outer works, inchiding Mount Defiance, and captured 
stores and prisoners. He failed in succeeding to the 
utmost of his expectations, but it was a dashing ex- 
ploit, which added to his reputation. The unknown 
officer adds : " We were commanded by Col. Brown, 
a fine officer as ever I saw — good courage and good 
conduct." 

Burgoyne surrendered October 17th. No one ap- 
preciated the event more than the soldiers in the 
field. When Washington heard of it at " Camp 
Pennybacker's Mills," Pa., he congratulated his army 
in the warmest terms. Col. Brown also came in for 
remembrance. 

". . . The Commander-in-Chief," runs a portion of the 
order, " has further occasion to congratulate the troops on the suc- 
cess of a detachment of the northern army, under Col. Brown, 
who attacked and carried several of the enemy's posts, and had 
got possession of several of the old French lines at Ticonderoga. 

"Col. Brown, in those severe attacks, has taken 293 prisoners 
of the enemy, with their arms, retaken more than 100 of our men, 
and taken 150 batteaux below the fall in Lake Champlain, and 50 
above the falls, including 17 gun-boats, and one armed sloop, be- 
sides cannon, ammunition, &c. 

" To celebrate this success the General orders that at 4 o'clock 
this afternoon [Oct. 28] all the troops be paraded and served with 
a gill of rum per man, and that at the same time there be dis- 
charges of 13 pieces of artillery from the park." ' 

The troops on the Hudson under Putnam were 
made equally happy with the news. Says Gen. Silli- 
man, " Fishkill, Oct. 18, 1777, 8 o'clock p.m." : 

". . . On this occasion the whole army was drawn up 
' Saffell's " Records of the Revolutionary War," p. 343. 



82 Yale in the Revohttion. 

under arms and formed into a great square, with the Field Pieces 
placed on one angle and all the General Ofificers in the centre 
mounted on Horse Back ; when all the Letters were publickly 
read, which was followed by a Discharge of 13 Cannon and three 
loud Huzzas from the whole army on the joyfull Occasion, which 
seemed almost to rend the air with the noise." ' 

And this from Gen. Scott to Gates, as found in 
the Gates Papers, New York Historical Society : 

"Kingston, Oct'r i8th, 11 o'clock, 1777. 
" My Dear General ! 

" How can I sufficiently congratulate you upon the most signal 
and Consequential Event that. has happened this War? an event 
as glorious to yourself, as it is big with the happy Fortune of 
America. We just now learn that Sir H. Clinton has come to 
ab' 6 miles below this. The Gov"" is arrived and his small Body 
of Troops are full on their March, and are expected here to- 
morrow Evening. Give me Leave, Sir, to give you a Hint that 
your good fortune may prove a Trap to Clinton. How would it 
add to your Trophies to secure him as a prisoner of War. I 
have too good an opinion of your Generalship to doubt your 
meeting him in Time — and I am convinced that he intends to 
push up to Albany without the loss of one moment. 

" I am. Dear General, 

" Most Respectfully Yours, 
" Jno. Morin Scott. 
" The Honorable Major-General Gates, &c., &c." 

After the surrender Gates' army dispersed, the 
mihtia going home and the Continentals returning in 
part to Washington and in part encamping on and 
near the Hudson for the winter. 

' From the Silliman MSS. in possession of Prof. O. P. Hubbard, New York 
City. 



EVENTS IN 1778-79. 

Valley Forge and its Discipline — General Paterson — Alumni in Camp — Letters 
from Lieuts. Chipman and Selden — Devotion of the Army to Washington 
— The French Alliance — General Scott to Gates — Battle of Monmouth — 
Camp at White Plains — Battle of Rhode Island — Notice from the College 
Steward. 

/' Following Germantown and Saratoga came the 
historic winter at Valley Forge. The traditional 
and popular picture of a shivering and famished 
army, hutted in a bleak camp on the banks of the 
Schuylkill, is hardly overdrawn, and touches the sym- 
pathies. But it was a valuable experience. Beyond 
the actual discomfort and suffering, which at best 
did not continue over six or eight weeks, one may 
see the Continental soldier generally in good cheer, 
his patience and determination commendable, and his 
devotion to his chief growing deeper and warmer. 
By ^spring-time the outlook was more encouraging. 
Intrigues against Washington had failed as they de- 
served ; Steuben, turning the whole camp into a 
drill-room, had introduced new tactics and a better 
discipline ; and men forgot their hardships in the in- 
spiring news that France had become their firm ally. 
There was a schooling of faith and habits at Valley 
Forge such as the army much needed, and when it 
moved out for active campaigning in the early sum- 
mer, it was with a sense of strength not before expe- 

83 



84 Yale in the Revolution. 

rienced, and an air of confidence which, even in 
gloomy days to come, never wholly forsook it. 

Among college men in this camp we meet again 
with General John Paterson, who had come down 
with his troops from Saratoga after Burgoyne's sur- 
render. He seems to have been everywhere and always 
active. Soon after the army was fixed in quarters, 
he was detailed to superintend a part of the lines, 
receiving these brief instructions from General 
Greene, as given in Colonel Febiger's MS. Order- 
Book: 

" Vali-ey Forge, Jan. 20th 1778. 
"Gen' Patterson is kind enough to undertake the Superintendence 
of the Fortifications of the Left Wing. All the men not on Duty in 
the respective Brigades in this Wing are to parade every morning 
at 9 o'clock to be employed in the Fortifications of the Camp 
under the Gen'^ Directions. Each Brigade is to furnish a Field 
officer to com"" the Fatigue parties. All officers not upon duty 
under the rank of a Field officer are to turn out with the men. His 
Excellency the Com''' in Chief Desires the officers to exert them- 
selves to put the Camp in a Defenceable condition as soon as 
may be." 

,. "About twenty-five graduates were identified with 
the Valley Forge encampment, the others in the 
service being with troops in winter-quarters on tlie 
Hudson and in Connecticut. Among the former we 
find Cols. Bradley and Chandler, both of whom were 
frequently appointed on a general court-martial. 
Other names mentioned in the order-books are — 
Sherman, " Field-Officer of the day," Jan. 27, 1778; 
Hull, Feb. 27th ; Russell, March 2d. Brigade- 
Majors Alden and Marvin were there ; also Lieuts. 
Ezra Selden, Flint, Judson, Chipman, Cogswell, Chas. 
Selden, Barker, Taylor, and doubtless Major Porter, 



Events in ly/S-yg. 85 

Capts. Ashley, Munson, Rice, and Webb, Lieuts. 
Cleaveland, Mix, and others. 

Letters from this camp, especially from subordinate 
officers, are rarities. One or two of Chipman's and 
Ezra Selden's have been preserved. Chipman, as 
we have seen, wrote poetry in college, and now he 
writes it from the field. It was in this strain, for 
example, that he informed his classmate, Cogswell, 
in April, 1777, that he had just entered the army : 

* -k % * -X- * 

" But I no more Parnassus tread 
A foolish whim has turned my head, 
The Muse has lost her wonted charms 
And I am rushing on to arms. 
No more I sing of bloody fight, 
But now prepare myself to try't. 
And leave to you the extensive rule 
You 've late acquired in Country School ; 
Your whip, your ferrule and your pen, 
And cringing band of pigmy men. 
Yes, you may laugh to see me cased 
In armor, with a cockade graced ; 
Nor will you laugh alone, I warrant, 
At such a doughty huge knight-errant." ' 

* * * =:; * * 

The rigors of Valley Forge failed to repress his 
aspirations, and when he sat down to describe his sur- 
roundings to another classmate. Fitch, in Feb., 1778, 
it was again in verse : 

" Here must we feel the inclement air. 
Bear all the unequalled toils of war ; 
Meet hardships in a thousand forms, 
Now scorch'd with heat, now drenched with storms. 

' This and other extracts from " Memoir of Judge Chipman." 



86 Yale ill the Revohttion. 

With cold and want maintain the strife — 
Such are the ills of martial life. 

* -s- * * -s- * 

And now, my friend, come view the plain, 

Deformed with mangled heaps of slain ; 

See here by deadly wounds subdued, 

Thousands still weltering in their blood. 

Their country's glory was their all, 

For her they fought, for her they fall. 

Oh grant, kind Heaven, these scenes may end, 

And peace her olive-branch extend. 

In freedom this fair land be blest. 

Nor Britain more our right contest." 

Again Chipman writes, April lo, 1778, to still an- 
other member of his class, Elisha Lee, but this time 
in good strong prose. The letter confirms the usual 
statement that the officers of Washington's main 
army were devotedly loyal to him at the time the 
Conway Cabal sought to depreciate his services and 
supplant his authority : 

" I learn that it is a common topic of conversation in Connecti- 
cut, and, indeed, through New England, that General Washington 
will not fight. ' Let Gates,' say they, * take the command, and we 
shall see an end of the war.' General Gates has done well ; he 
has done gloriously ; I have as high a sense of his merit as any 
man. But the truth is, Burgoyne failed himself, and Gates con- 
quered him. Besides, Gates was in a situation to command what 
assistance he pleased, and that the flower of the continent. What 
shall we say of Washington here at the head of fifteen, or at most 
twenty thousand men, for his army never exceeded that number, 
and one third of them Pennsylvania militia, Avho for the most part 
never dared to face an enemy. I have seen when our regiment 
was closely engaged, and almost surrounded, seven hundred of 
them quit the field without firing a gun. On the seventh of 
December, the army of the enemy, exclusive of those left to gar- 
rison Philadelphia, and the neighboring posts, amounted to eleven 



Rve7its in lyyE-yg, 87 

thousand effective men. From this you may judge of their 
strength at the opening of the campaign. There is not another 
State on the continent where so many traitors are to be found, as 
in this, and yet General Washington baffled all the stratagems of 
a wary, politic, and experienced general, and has several times 
fought him not unsuccessfully. All General Gates has done does 
not render it even probable, that in General Washington's situa- 
tion he would not have been totally defeated. The army, to a 
man, except those who conquered under Gates, have the highest 
opinion of General Washington. They love, I had almost said, 
they adore him. While he lives, be assured, they will never brook 
the command of another." 

Two Other letters referring to current military af- 
fairs of the year are from Ezra Selden, of Lyme, Ad- 
jutant of the First Connecticut, a young man of much 
promise, who, as Captain, will distinguish himself in 
the following summer. One was written from Valley 
Forge, the other after Monmouth. Both are ad- 
dressed to an old acquaintance. Dr. Mather, an 
elderly physician of Lyme : 

" Valley Forge, May 15, 1778. 
" Sir : 

" Agreeable to your desire I do myself the honor of writing you, 
though nothing material occurs. 

'' The welcome news which Mr. Dean brought us from Europe 
gave great joy to our army — his Excellency Directed three Fue 
de Joys, One for y^ Thirteen United States, One for France and 
one for our Friendly European powers. After Dissmissing the 
Soldiery He Directed the assembling of the Officers of the whole 
army and entertained them with as good a Dinner as could under 
our Situation in the Field be provided, after which they were 
served with Wine &c., — at the same time his Excellency gave 
the Toasts which were Proclaimed by his aid de Camp who as- 
cended a high Step for that Purpose. After a sufficient merriment 
his Excellency retired. Desiring the Officers to be very attentive 
to their Duty as the Intelligence which he had rece"^ required it. 



88 Yale m the Revolution. 

" Our Army is at present very busy and intent upon a New mode 
of Exercise Pointed by Major General Baron Stuben from 
Poland. 

" His knowledge in Discipline is very great, his method of ma- 
nuvering is very Different, but mostly satisfactory ; he never in- 
forms what is to be Done in future ; but gives Lessons and we 
Practice until he gives new Directions ; he allows no musick 
while we are manuvering, or does he ever allow us to be steping 
upon our Posts, but at the word march to step right off, and al- 
ways with the left foot. Our manual Exercise as yet continues 
the same, excepting in the Charging the Bayonet. 

" By the best information I can collect the Enemy are about 
leaving Philadelphia. Inhabitants & Deserters inform us that 
they have their Heavy artillery on Board their Shipping — reports 
also are that they will attack us Prior to their leaving the City. 
Reports are Reports. Gen' Howe has not sailed for England 
unless within 3 or 4 days. Our Incampment is strongly fortified 
and Piqueted. I have no suspicions that we shall be attacked in 
Quarters. 

"' There is a very Different Spirit in the army to what there was 
when I left it [on furlough] ; the Troops considerably well 
cloathed, but then their cloathing which they have lately Re- 
ceived is such as ought to have been worn last winter, not this 
summer. 

" Gen' Mcintosh is appointed to the Command of Fort Pitt and 
the Back settlements, &c. 

" I am content should they Remove almost any General Except 
his Excellency. The Country even Congress are not aware of 
the Confidence the army Places in him, or motions would never 
have been made for Gates to take the Command. 

*' Our army have not yet taken the field nor do I suspect it very 
shortly. Two Regiments are ordered into Tents as being sickly. 
The Army in Gen' is not very sickly. 

" I am, kind Sir, with Compliments to Miss Mather, your hum' 
Serv' " Ezra Selden. 

" Doct. Samuel Mather, 
" Lyme, Conn." 

' This letter, and the one from White Plains of Aug. nth, from the original 
in possession of Mr. H. M. Selden, Haddam Neck, Conn. 



Events in lyyS-yg. 89 

This interesting letter is supplemented by one 
from John Morin Scott to Gates, which doubtless re- 
flected the satisfaction of the people at large with the 
terms of the French treaty. Scott, who was now 
Secretary of State for New York, seems to have 
been a warm friend and admirer of Gates, but we 
have no hint in the letter that he would have ap- 
proved his substitution for Washington in the chief 
command of the army, as the Conway clique pro- 
posed. He writes : 

" Hurley [near Kingston, N. Y.], May i6th, 1778. 
" Dear General : 

" When I was last at Fish Kill I waited two days in expecta- 
tion of your arrival, but was unfortunately disappointed of the 

pleasure of seeing you. 

* * * * -s- * * 

" I congratulate you on the present promising aspect of our 
affairs. How often have we had reason since our present con- 
flict to say ' The dawn is overcast — the morning lowers.' But 
now, thanks to a kind providence, we have reason to hope that 
the bright sunshine of peace, established Liberty & prosperity, 
both public & private, will speedily shine upon us ; that e'er 
long we shall be able to sit down under our own vines and Fig 
trees, recounting with delight our doubtful tho' successful strug- 
gles for Liberty, and have none to make us afraid. 

" Our Treaty with France has, I think, been wisely concerted 
on oui part ; and exhibits a degree of Generosity and disinterest- 
edness on the part of France, which was hardly to be expected 
from a Court grown old in Intrigues, and remarkably sedulous in 
securing advantages by Negotiation. I wait with Impatience to 
hear further about the expected arrival of Commissioners from 
the Court of London. Their errand, if founded on the two Bills 
we have seen, will doubtless be unsuccessful. A meer Noliimus 
taxere, a repeal of certain detestable acts, and a tender of pardon, 
the acceptance of which would necessarily imply guilt, must be 
very unsavory to the American Taste, especially after an 



90 Yale in the Revohttion. 

acknowledgment of our Independence by one of the first powers 
in Europe. 

" I hope we shall be stronger than ever, both in Council and in 
the Field. This Summer will require, in my opinion, a greater 
strength of Head & arm than any we have passed since the com- 
mencement of the controversy. I wish you all imaginable 
Health and Happiness. 
'' I am, 

" Dear General, 

** With the utmost sincerity and respect, 

" Your most obedient Servant, 
"Jno. Morin Scott. 
" Honorable Major General Gates." ' 

The principal event of the year was the battle of 
Monmouth, fought June 29th. Abandoning Philadel- 
phia, the enemy marched up through New Jersey to 
New York. Washington broke up camp at Valley 
Forge and followed in pursuit. His advance over- 
took the British rear, and some sharp fighting took 
place, resulting decidedly to the advantage of the 
Americans. The action lacked completeness, as but 
small portions of either army were engaged. Among 
graduates present were probably the greater part of 
those mentioned as being in the Valley Forge en- 
campment. Paterson, Russell, Sherman, Hull, the 
two Seldens, Chipman, Taylor, Cogswell, Alden, are 
known to have been on the field. Col. Russell for a 
time commanded Varnum's brigade, which was closely 
engaged. With many others he was all but overcome 
by the great heat of the day and the much marching 
and countermarching his brigade was required to do. 

After the battle Washingfton continued his march 
northward, and crossing the Hudson, went into camp 

' From the original in the Gates Papers, New York Historical Society. 



Events in i yy8-7g. 91 

at White Plains, where he remained through the 
summer and fall. The army here was the largest 
Continental force ever assembled at one point or 
united under his immediate command. It seems to 
have impressed the British with its strength and con- 
dition, as they made no attempt to force it into 
a pitched battle. Most of our Continental graduates 
then in the field, about forty in number, were to 
be found in this camp. Fifteen or twenty more, in- 
cluding several in State service, were on duty at 
other points.' 

From this camp we hear again from Adjutant 
Selden, as follows : 

" White Plains, August ii, 1778. 
"Sir: 

"Yours of the 25th of July came safe to hand by Mr. Burnham, 
which at that tune I had not leisure to return you my thanks for. 

" Our army continues their post at White Plains, keeping 
strong Guards Posted between 3 and 4 miles advanced of our 
Front. Large Detachments are kept constantly advanced of our 
guards, near the Enemies lines ; and it is not seldom that our 
Scouts come athwart theirs. It so happened the other day that 
Two parties were taking possession of an Eminence ; they met 
on the Summit ; both being surprised, they exchanged a few 
rounds by way of compliment : The Enemy retired but carried 
off their dead and wounded if any. We received no damage. 

" A Corps of Light Infantry is now forming by draughts from 
the several Battalions, which with a junction of Col. Grahams 
Militia, will compose a body of about 1500 or 1600. This Corps 
is intended to be officered with the best partisan officers. Com- 
manded by Brigadier General Scott, from Virginia, the intention 
of which is to preserve the safety and ease of the army, and to be 
in greater readiness to attack or repel the Enemy. This Corps 

' Nearly all the graduates named as having joined the new Continental army 
early in 1777 continued with it for four years, when a reduction in the Lines 
took place. The number remained about the same, as recent graduates entered 
the service where others fell out. 



92 Yale in the Revohttion. 

will be constantly in front of the Army, and will in a great 
measure prevent the unnecessary Fatigue of the Troops, by De- 
tachments for Scouts. 

" These Draughts to continue in this Corps until the Light In- 
fantry of ye army shall be arranged, agreeable to the New 
establishment ordered by Congress. For the completion of 
which a Committee from Congress is hourly expected. 

" The Tryal of Maj' General Lee, proves of very long duration 
as it is not yet over ; he has thrown in his defence in Writing. 
But I fancy his satyrical turns (of which he is master) upon 
particular gentlemen will be only verbal. I am informed he 
affects to treat some officers with Great Neglect. 

" Maj" General Lincoln has arrived at Head Quarters and taken 
Command. We hourly expect important News from Rhode 
Island. 

" You may Depend on my endeavoring to pen for you every- 
thing which I shall deem worthy your attention, either for in- 
formation or Divertion. 

" Must Conclude with wishing you & yours prosperity and 
Friendship with 

" E. Selden. 

" N, B. — My Compliments to Mrs. Mather & Miss Alice. 
"Doc' Sam' Mather, Lyme, Connecticut." 

On August 29th occurred what is known as the 
battle of Rhode Island, the only military event in the 
year of any consequence after Monmouth, Gen. 
Sullivan, commanding in that quarter, attempted, with 
the assistance of a French fleet, to dislodge the 
enemy from Newport. In this he failed, but an en- 
gagement took place at Quaker Hill, about twelve 
miles north of the town, in which our troops fought 
well and repulsed the enemy. The brunt of the 
action was sustained by two Continental brigades 
which Washington had detached from his camp at 
White Plains. One of the regiments was Col. S. B. 



Eve7its in i yyg-So. 93 

Webb's, among whose officers, as already stated, 
there were several young graduates, namely : Major 
Huntington, Captains Wyllys, Williams, Walker, 
possibly Wooster, and Lieutenant Welles. With 
Col. H. Jackson's Massachusetts regiment were Lieu- 
tenants Cogswell, C. Selden, and Barker. Maj. Peck 
was Sullivan's assistant adjutant-general. Maj. Porter 
and Capt. Ashley were also there ; and it would 
appear that all of them took part in the battle. 
Jackson's regiment was complimented on its good 
behavior. These officers remained in Rhode Island 
about a year after this, and then returned with their 
commands to Washington's army on the Hudson. 
Peck continued on duty at Providence until the fall 
of 1781. 

Later in the year Washington's army went into 
winter-quarters at points in Connecticut, New Jersey, 
and in the Highlands. The situation at the college 
is indicated in the following advertisement in the 
Connecticut papers : 

" The Steward of Yale-College hereby requests the Parents 
and Guardians of the Students to assist in furnishing a supply of 
Provisions ; without which it will be very difficult if not imprac- 
ticable for him to subsist the Scholars the ensuing winter. A 
generous and full Price shall be allowed and paid either in 
Money, or their Sons' Quarter Bills, as shall be most agreeable 

"Yale College, Sept. 30, 1778." 



a^'^:^ g^^i^^^^s ^^^»*^^ 



EVENTS IN 1779-80. 

Short Commons at College — Letters from Commissary Colt — Yale Loyalists — 
Gen. Silliman and Judge Jones — Storming of Stony Point — Sherman, 
Hull, Selden— Invasion of New Haven — Ex- President Daggett and the 
Students — Maj. Huntington Complimented — Death of Col. Russell. 

This was the year of the storming of Stony Point 
and the enemy's invasion of New Haven and other 
Connecticut towns. Both events made a stir — the 
former as ilKistrating the possibiHties of the Con- 
tinental soldier when well disciplined and well led ; 
and the latter as being apparently an unmilitary and 
useless move, more hurtful in its moral effect to the 
British than in actual damage to the Americans. 
What with Sullivan's expedition against the Western 
Indians, Harry Lee's surprise of Paulus Hook, and 
minor operations in the South, the account for the 
year closed quite in our favor. 

At the college there were serious interruptions 
again. The students had been dismissed on account 
of short commons in December previous, and were 
not recalled for two months. President Stiles, on 
February 2, 1779, appealed to Gov. Trumbull for a 
supply of flour, and it was only on his assurance that 
it should be forthcoming that the college was assem- 
bled on the 1 8th. On the next day the president 
informed the governor of the fact as follows : 

" Encouraged by your Favor of the 3d inst., I have suffered 

94 



Events in i y/g-So. 95 

the students to return & yesterday set up College orders, the 
Steward having got some flour for a beginning in setting up Com- 
mons. . . . This waits upon your Excellency praying that 
you would be pleased to favor us with an order or Permit directed 
to Col. Fitch or Mr. Colt for supplying the Steward with flour to 
the amount of fifty barrels if necessary." ' 

A Still longer break will occur in the summer and 
fall in consequence of the New Haven raid, but the 
lack of supplies was generally the main reason for 
the frequent closing of the college. In fact, from 
this time to the end of the war it became more and 
more difficult to obtain supplies of any kind either 
for the army or the population. " At one time," 
says Noah Webster " goods were so scarce that the 
farmers cut corn stalks and crushed them in cider 
mills, and then boiled the juice down to a syrup, as a 
substitute for sugar." Assistant Commissary Royall 
Flint, of the class of 1773, found it almost impossi- 
ble, as he will tell us, to provide flour enough for the 
troops at Morristown in 1 780. Col. Chauncey Whit- 
tlesey, class of 1764, Purchasing Clothier for Con- 
necticut, was this year paying thirteen dollars per 
pair for good shoes, and from ten to twelve dollars 
for stockings, while his classmate, Col. Peter Colt, 
Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases for the 
Eastern Department, was hard at work trying to keep 
the soldiers' ration up to the regulation amount. On 
this point we have two letters from Colt, written to 
General Gates, then commanding the Department, 
which have their interest. 

The first is as follows : 

' From the original in the Trumbull Papers, Mass. Historical Society. 



96 Yale in the Revolution, 

" Hartford, Feb'y 12 — 79. 
" HoN^ M. General Gates : 

" Sir — From the most exact survey of our stores, find we have a 
much l>e^fer supply of Meaf this season than last, & a much worse 
supply of Flour. 

" The Troops at Providence & other posts under command of 
General Sullivan, are the best supplied of any in my department, 
& f^et'r stock will not more than subsist them till May. General 
Putnam & General McDougall are much worse supplied — no 
Flour can be brought from the Southard for our Relief until 
June.— 

" The Farmers, in State of N. York have sold nearly their Avhole 
stock of old wheat their new crops are scanty & almost uni- 
versally witholden ; tho we give Eight DolP pr bushel for wheat, 
& Twenty two & half DolP pr b' for Flour. — The transportation 
has been so very bad the whole of this winter, and will doubtless 
remain bad till May, that we can't remove much Flour Eastward 
were we in present possession of it. Under these circumstances 
think it necessary to lessen the quantity of Bread issued to the 
Troops to a pound pr Man pr diem & where there is no Rice to de- 
liver in lieu of Flour, to deliver meat instead agreable to the for- 
mer Rations. If this meets with your approbation, your Honour 
will please give such orders to the Issuing Department as will 
authorize them to comply with this request — I am fully convinced 
that Dutchess & W'- Chester Counties, where my whole depend- 
ance for Flour lies, will not produce more than half as much as I 
got last year. " I am your Honour's 

" Most respectfull hum. Servt., 

" Peter Colt, 

"D.C.G.P."' 

The second letter concerns the ration of rum 
which our revolutionary fathers considered as much 
of an essential as meat or flour. In this they kept 
up the practice of the British army to which they had 
been accustomed themselves in the French and In- 
dian war. This letter is also to Gates. 

' This and the letter following from the originals among the Gates Papers, 
New York Historical Society. 



Rvents in lyyg-So. 97 

" Wethersfield, June i6, '79. 
" Sir : 

" By Letters from Miller and Tracy, my assistants at Boston 
find they have your Honour's orders for such Quantities of Rum 
as Mr. Southwick may think proper to call on them for — He has 
requested them to send forward weekly Ten hhd. of N. E. & 
eight of W. I. Rum — that quantity will cost upwards of ;;^i3,coo 
pr week — a sum much beyond my abilities to furnish for that par- 
ticular purpose, & is upwards of 8,500 gills pr day. 

'* The proportion of W' Ind. Rum is much greater than is used 
at the main army. 

" As it will be utterly impossible for me in the present state of 
the currency, to keep up that supply of spirits, even of the poor- 
est kind, I must request your Honour's direction that a Less 
Quantity be issued to the Troops, & that a great proportion of 
what is delivered the troops may be common Rum — I would wish 
to make every kind of supplies in the fullest manner, & in kind 
to the satisfaction of the army, whose pay and subsistence is but 
indifferent : but it is out of my power. Congress cannot furnish 
money sufficient for the purpose. 

" I have the Honour 

" to be, with great Respect 
" Your most Obt. hum. Ser. 
" Peter Colt, 
" D.C.G. 
" Hon. M. General Gates." 

Colonel Colt was engaged from 1777 to the end of 
the war with the exacting duties of his important 
office. His name is not familiar even to close readers 
of our revolutionary history, for the reason that the 
heads of the subsistence departments are seldom 
mentioned in the published correspondence of the 
time. Such men as Colonel Hugh Hughes of New 
York, Colonel Ephraim Blaine of Pennsylvania, and 
others, whose services in providing for the needs of 
the army were great, are comparatively unknown to 



98 Yale in the Revohction. 

us. Colt was one of these almost forgotten powers 
who helped to keep the Continental soldier alive. 

n common with all the colleges Yale had among 
her graduates a small proportion of Tories. Some 
of them assumed a neutral attitude and remained in 
more or less seclusion at their homes in different 
f parts of New England and New York. A few be- 
'\ came pronounced royalists and attained prominence 
\ on the other side^ Such was Edmund Fanning, of 
iffie'"cTass 6F 1757, who received the colonelcy of a 
Provincial corps in New York, and who, after the war, 
was appointed successively Lieutenant-Governor of 
Nova Scotia, Governor of Prince Edward's Island, 
<^*-«t?., and Brigadier-General in the British Army. John 
Peters, class of 1 759, appeared as Lieutenant-Colonel 
of the Queens Loyal Rangers, organized in Canada, 
and fought under Burgoyne down to the evening be- 
fore the surrender, when, with the other Provincial 
officers and men, he received permission to attempt an 
escape from camp and succeeded. The few graduates 
who were clergymen of the English Church were, al- 
most without exception, loyalists ; Bishop Seabury, 
class of 1 748, for example, and the Rev. Luke Babcock, 
class of 1755. Mr. Babcock's case is noticeable in 
view of the fact that his father and two brothers, all 
graduates, were prominent " rebels " ; although as to 
divisions in households, it may be mentioned that 
Heathcote Muirson, an ardent young graduate of 
the class of 1776, who, as a volunteer, took part in 
some successful enterprises, and finally fell mortally 
wounded in the American cause, was the only " rebel " 
member of a well-known loyalist family on Long Isl- 



Rvents in iyyg-80 



99 



and. Probably the most bitter of our Tory gradu- 
ates was Judge Thomas Jones, of the class of 1750. 
Birth, connections, judicial position, and church 
ties combined to make him a strict monarchist 
and ministerialist in politics and an aristocrat in 
society. Personally he was eminently respectable. 
The Revolution, however, worked his ruin. He 
seems to have had an instinctive hate for the move- 
ment, and he denounced it vigorously and publicly. 
When hostilities opened on Long Island in the sum- 
mer of 1776, Washington ordered his arrest and re- 
moval to Connecticut as a disaffected person, whose 
presence in the vicinity of the two armies could not 
be permitted. Released on parole in December fol- 
lowing, he returned to his home at Fort Neck on 
Long Island, but was again seized as a prisoner in 
1779 and finally exchanged in 1780. In 1781 he 
sailed for England, where he remained until his 
death. His losses and trials preying upon his sensi- 
tive nature, he seems to have sought relief in part by 
writing a history of the American Revolution from 
his own standpoint. This work, which has been pub- 
lished within a few years, is curious and interesting, 
but singularly replete with grave misstatements and 
prejudiced opinions. Nothing shows the intensity 
of the Judge's feelings more than his denunciation of 
his Alma Mater, which he describes as " a nursery of 
sedition, of faction, and republicanism" — "a college 
remarkable for its persecuting spirit, its republican 
principles, its intolerance in religion and its utter 
aversion to Bishops and all Earthly Kings," This, 
on the whole, is good evidence of the steadfast and 
generous support Yale gave to the Revolution. 



loo Yale in the Revolution. 

/The case of Judge Jones recalls the mishap that 
befell General Silliman in May of this year. The 
General was entrusted with the g-uard of the western 
end of the Connecticut coast, with head-quarters at 
his home on Holland Hill, two miles north of Fair- 
field. Being a vigilant officer, especially disliked by 
refugees and loyalists, a whale-boat party on Long 
Island determined to effect his capture. Crossing 
the Sound on the evening of the ist of May, they 
broke into his house about midnight and carried him 
off to the enemy, with whom he remained a prisoner 
for a year. As the Americans had no one in their 
possession at that time whom the British would ex- 
change for General Silliman, it was proposed to re- 
capture Judge Jones much in the same way that the 
General had been seized, and offer him in exchange. 
The plan succeeded. The Judge v/as taken at his 
house on Long Island on the evening of the 6th of 
November following, and on the 28th of April, 1780, 
the exchange between the two graduates, old college 
mates, was effected — the General for the Judge. The 
General received a very warm welcome from his towns- 
\^ men_on his return home. 

In the spring of this year also, the enemy captured 
David Bushnell, inventor of the torpedo, and Jabez 
H. Tomlinson, then a Junior in college, who was 
visiting near Stratford, but both were soon released 
as civilians. Upon graduation Tomlinson entered 
the service. It was to him that Andre gave the pen- 
portrait of himself which is now in the college 
library. 

Military plans and operations in the North in 1779 



Events in lyjg-So, loi 

centred in a certain sense on Stony Point. From 
the unpublished correspondence of Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, then the British commander-in-chief at New 
York, it would appear that an effort was to be made 
in the summer of this year to draw Washington out 
of his impregnable position at West Point, and com- 
pel him to fight in the open field. With this in view, 
Clinton moved up the Hudson, and on the 31st of 
May occupied the strong post of Stony Point at 
King's Ferry, which, with Verplank's Point opposite 
on the east side, commanded what was known as the 
short line of communication between the New Eng- 
land and Middle States. Its severance at that point 
Clinton imagined might have the effect of bringing 
Washington down to dispute its possession with 
him. Washington, with his inferior force, declined 
the challenge, and Clinton, leaving ample garrisons 
at both Stony and Verplank's Points, returned to 
New York to await reinforcements expected from 
England. Upon their arrival, he proposed to strike 
into New Jersey and again cut Washington's supply 
line, either at Middlebrook or even Easton, Pennsyl- 
vania. With King's Ferry also in his hands, the 
British commander felt confident that the distressed 
American army — New England having been drained 
of provisions — would be forced to attack him in New 
Jersey to restore its southern communications. This 
would bring about the desired campaign in a more 
open country. 

Finding that the main body of the enemy had re- 
turned to New York, Washington detei mined to 
attempt the capture of the isolated garrisons left at 



102 Yale m the Revolutio7i. 

King's Ferry. As in the previous year, he organized 
a corps of light infantry to cover his front and be 
ready to act on an emergency at the shortest notice. 
It consisted of four battaHons — in all some fifteen 
hundred men and officers — under the command of 
General Wayne. By careful selection of the best 
soldiers from every regiment in the army and the 
choice of the most experienced officers, it was made 
a thoroughly trustworthy body from whose prowess 
in the field something might be expected. Two of 
the battalions were organized from the New England 
lines, and in these we may expect to find a few 
of our graduates. The rolls indicate that six or more 
served with the corps at different times during the 
season, namely, Lieut.-Colonel Isaac Sherman, Major 
William Hull, and Captains Ezra Selden, Theophilus 
Munson, Nehemiah Rice, and Nathaniel Webb. 
With the exception of Hull they belonged to the 
Connecticut battalion, commanded by Colonel Meigs. 
All were old soldiers. Sherman, the second in com- 
mand, was a veteran of the siege of Boston, the New 
York campaign, Trenton, Princeton, Germantown (?), 
Valley Forge, and Monmouth. In addition, he had 
served with the light infantry in the previous year 
under Gen. Charles Scott. The captains could also 
show a fine record. Major Hull was honored for 
a time with the command of the Massachusetts 
battalion, composed of the seven light companies of 
Paterson's and Bailey's brigades at West Point. 
Sherman, Hull, and all the field officers of Wayne's 
Corps were selected by Washington himself ; and there 
can be little doubt that at the time of their selection 



Events in ijyg-So. 103 

he had in mind the difficult and hazardous service 
they were afterwards called upon to perform — the as- 
sault upon the enemy's garrison at Stony Point. 

This storming of Stony Point was confessedly a 
brilliant piece of work. British officers themselves had 
words of high praise for it. The point assaulted was 
a rugged promontory jutting into the Hudson at the 
southern bend of Haverstraw Bay, formed by nature 
for successful defence, and held at the time by nearly 
six hundred regulars, protected by guns, works, and 
abatis. On the evening of July 15th, Wayne and 
his infantry approached it silently, and dividing into 
two columns, moved to the assault at midnieht. 
With such courage, firmness, rapidity, and exact ob- 
servance of orders did the assailants push up the 
steep rock on opposite sides, that in precisely half an 
hour, in spite of the sharp fire poured upon them by 
the enemy, they had carried the works and forced the 
garrison to surrender. Guns, prisoners, and stores 
were taken, but the moral effect of the exploit was 
still more valuable in greatly increasing the con- 
fidence of the Continental army in itself and in 
compelling some wholesome respect from the enemy. 

Sherman, Hull, Selden, and Munson were in the 
thick of this attack. Several officers were woundec. ^ 
but none as seriously as Selden. He was struck in 
the back by a musket-ball, which was soon extracted, 
and he remained in the service to the end of the war ; 
but he never fully recovered from the injury, and 
finally died from its effects in 1784. His comrades 
in the army remembered him with affection and re- 
spect as an officer of merit and a man of high prom- 



I04 Yale in the Revolution. 

ise. When Selden retired from the infantry Capt. 
Rice took his place, and Munson, at a later date, was 
relieved by Webb. It is worth while also to notice 
here the feelings of indignation unexpectedly excited 
among a number of the ofificers of the corps in con- 
sequence of Wayne's failure to mention them, as they 
deserved, in his ofifiicial report to Washington. Sher- 
man and Hull, and Majors Murfree and Posey, two 
officers from the South, felt themselves slighted and 
insulted. Posey and Sherman wrote so pointedly to 
Wayne that he considered his personal honor in- 
volved, and hinted at the reparation due a soldier and 
a gentleman ; but both officers disclaimed any impu- 
tation upon his military character or sense of justice, 
and the matter went no further. That Sherman's 
feelings were deeply wounded appears from the fol- 
lowing extract from his letter to Wayne : 

" There appears, in the account you have given, evident marks 
of a State partiality, all distinctions of which kind I detest, and 
ardently wish they may be for ever banished from the mind of 
every friend to his country. They have a tendency to lay a 
foundation for future broils ; for when once a man is sensibly in- 
jured, if he is possessed of the least feeling, he doth not soon for- 
get it. Why cannot we consider ourselves as one, and walk hand 
in hand like brethren ? Are we not embarked in the same cause, 
and does not our independence rest on our united efforts ? But 
rather than be injured, rather than be trampled upon and consid- 
ered as insignificant beings in the scale, my blood boils at the 
thought, Nature recoils, and points out a mode, the only one of redress. 

" I am not anxious to have my name transmitted to publick view ; 
neither do I think any thing can be said of me more than barely 
attending to duty. I am not writing for myself ; but I feel for 
those officers under my command, as well as others, who merit as 
much as those most distinguished by you. 

" Duty, separate from the ties of friendship, is sufficient to in- 



Events in I'/'/g-So. 105 

duce me to acquaint you with the sentiments and uneasiness of 
many officers under your command, which, perhaps, is more ex- 
tensive than you may imagine. It is still in your power to place 
things in their proper channel, to gain our affection and confi- 
dence, and then, when called into the field, inspired by your ex- 
ample, animated with a desire of crowning you with fresh laurels, 
every thing will conspire to induce us to play the man." ' 

Wayne, however, was too brave and generous a 
soldier to indulge in wilful injustice to his comrades, 
and when he heard of the displeasure referred to, and 
before receiving any letters, he wrote to the Presi- 
dent of Congress, regretting the omission in his first 
report of " the names of Lieut-Col. Sherman, Majors 
Hull, Murphy, and Posey, whose good Conduct and 
Intrepidity justly entitled them to that attention." 

The second event of the year was the invasion of 
New Haven. This has been regarded as a merely 
predatory expedition on the part of the British, fitted 
out for the destruction of ships and boats in the Con- 
necticut harbors, the seizure of cattle, and the plun- 
dering and burning of towns. But we must credit 
Clinton with having had an ulterior design in the 
case which might justify the harsh diversion. It 
was probably never known to that generation of 
Americans that he hoped, by the show of a general 
onset along the Connecticut coast, to induce Wash- 
ington to move into that State for its protection, and 
there push him to a decisive action. It was the 
same object he had in view in the seizure of King's 
Ferry, on the Hudson, and the same he proposed to 
effect in New Jersey, at a later date, with the prom- 
ised reinforcements. But Washington again showed 

' The letter appears in full in Dawson's " Assault on Stony Point," Appendix. 



io6 Yale in the Revolutio7t. 

himself Clinton's superior. He "protected" Con- 
necticut by storming Stony Point. While neither 
commander knew what project the other was medi- 
tating in those early July days, it did happen that 
the moment Clinton heard of the loss of his King's 
Ferry garrison he instantly ordered his troops and 
the fleet in the Sound, which was to extend its havoc 
to New London, to proceed up the Hudson to re- 
cover the captured post. His plans had iagain mis- 
carried. ^. kiin.'^ 
/ The " invasion "^occurred July 5th, and with it we 

' associate several familiar incidents, such as the rally- 
ing of the students, with others, for the defence of 
the towrL and the patriotic conduct of ex-President 

\ Daggett.^/ The enemy landed near Savin Rock, and 
marched through West Haven, where they were met 
by small bodies of militia. Among the first to en- 
counter them was a company under Capt. James Hill- 
house, class of 1773, with students as volunteers, 
who are credited with excellent behavior before the 
red-coats.' Col. S. B. Webb, of Wethersfield, in re- 
porting the attack to a friend, said : " The enemy, 
about 2,000, under the infamous Gov. Tryon, have 
been at New Haven. They took possession of 
the town on Monday last, there being only about 
100 of the militia to oppose them. The young men 
of the town and the collegians behaved gallantly — 
fought them as long as it could be of service." "^ (As 

' A full account of the attack was published in New Haven, in 1879, by 
Capt. Charles Hervey Townshend in a pamphlet entitled " The British In- 
vasion of New Haven, Conn.," etc. It includes interesting extracts from Dr. 
Stiles' diary, and much valuable information from other sources. 

■ From the " Reminiscences of Gen. Samuel B. Webb," by his son, the late 
Gen. James Watson Webb, of New York. Privately printed. 



Events in ij'/g-So. 107 

£0 President Daggett, perhaps the most interesting 
/ account of the part he took in the affair is that con- 
tributed to Sprague's " Annals of the American Pul- 
pit," by Hon. Elizur Goodrich, class of 1779, who 
was engaged in the skirmishing himself. He says : 

" On the evening of the 4th of July, 1779, a force of twenty-five 
hundred men, which had previously sailed from New York, 
landed in the south part of West Haven, a parish of New Haven, 
about five miles from the centre of the town. College was, of 
course, broken up, and the students, with many of the inhabi- 
tants, prepared to flee on the morrow into the neighboring 
country. To give more time for preparation, and especially for 
the removal of goods, a volunteer company of about a hundred 
young men was formed, not with the expectation of making any 
serious stand against such a force, but simply of retarding or di- 
verting its march. In common with others of the students, I was 
one of the number, and I well remember the surprise we felt the 
next morning, July 5th, as we were marching over West Bridge 
towards the enemy, to see Dr. Daggett riding furiously by us on 
his old black mare, with his long fowling-piece in his hand ready 
for action. We knew the old gentleman had studied the matter 
thoroughly, and satisfied his own mind as to the right and pro- 
priety of fighting it out ; but we were not quite prepared to see 
him come forth in so gallant a style to carry his principles into 
practice. Giving him a hearty cheer as he passed, we turned 
down towards West Haven, at the foot of the Milford Mills, while 
he ascended a little to the west, and took his station in a copse of 
wood, where he seemed to be reconnoitring the enemy, like one 
who was determined to ' bide his time.' As we passed on 
towards the south we met an advanced guard of the British, and 
taking our stand at a line of fence, we fired upon them several 
times, and then chased them the length of three or four fields as 
they retreated, until we suddenly found ourselves involved with 
the main body, and in danger of being surrounded. It was now 
our turn to run, and we did for our lives. Passing by Dr. Dag- 
gett in his station on the hill, we retreated rapidly across West 
Bridge, which was instantly taken down by persons who stood 



io8 Yale in the Revolution. 

/" ready for the purpose to prevent the enemy from entering the 

/ town by that road. In the meantime Dr. Daggett, as we heard 

the story afterwards, stood his ground manfully, while the British 

columns advanced along the foot of the hill, determined to have 

the battle himself as we had left him in the lurch, and using his 

fowling-piece now and then to excellent effect, as occasion of- 

/ fered, under the cover of the bushes. But this could not last 

j long. A detachment was sent up the hill-side to look into the 

\ matter, and the commanding officer, coming suddenly, to his 

I great surprise, on a single individual in a black coat, blazing 

■4 away in this style, cried out : ' What are you doing there, you old 

i fool, firing on His Majesty's troops?' '' Exercising the rights of 

\ war^' says the old gentleman. The very audacity of the reply, 

% and the mixture of drollery it contained, seemed to amuse the 

I officer. 'If I let you go this time, you rascal,' says he, 'will you 

% ever fire again on the troops of His Majesty?' '' Nothing more 

\ likely,' said the old gentleman, in his dry way. This was too 

I much for flesh and blood to bear, and it is a wonder they did not 

\ put a bullet through him on the spot. However, they dragged 

\ him down to the head of the column, and . . . drove him 

i before them at mid-day under the burning sun, round through 

1 Westville, about five miles into the town, pricking him forward 

with their bayonets when his strength failed, and when he was 

\ready to sink to the ground from utter exhaustion. . . ." 

Further facts connected with the invasion appear 
in the sketches of Dr. Daggett, Goodrich, Williston, 
and John Hotchkiss. The latter, a graduate of thirty 
years' standing, was killed early in the day.' 

' Upon the landing of the enemy President Stiles dismissed the students, and 
those who did not go out to fight retired into the country. Chancellor Kent, 
then a Sophomore, states in his "Autobiography" (N. Y. Genealog. Record, 
Jan., 1873) that he went to a neighboring village and read Blackstone's com- 
mentaries. He was so inspired by the work that he there " fondly determined 
to be a lawyer." In his Phi Beta Kappa address, delivered at New Haven 
many years later, he gives some interesting recollections (in notes) of Tryon's 
raid. 

In formally dismissing the students by advertisement Aug. 5th, Dr. Stiles 
says: " Such is the dangerous situation of the Town of New Haven that it is 
not judged expedient to call the Undergraduate Classes together again this 
quarter. It is, however, recommended to the scholars to apply themselves dili- 



Rveitts in iyyg-80. 109 

That New Haven was not burned by the enemy is 
./ sometimes explained by the fact that Col. Edmund 
j Fanning, one of our loyalist graduates already re- 
\ ferred to, accompanied Tryon on the expedition, and 
I interposed in behalf of the college.^ In a letter cred- 
^"'"•'^ed to him, written mTySQ, He says : 

" I still retain a fond remembrance and tender affection for 
that well regulated seminary of religion and learning, where 
under the Doctor's tuition [in 1753-55, when Dr. Stiles was 
Tutor], I made such progress in my academical instruction as has 
facilitated greatly those instances of distinction and success with 
which I have since been honoured by my Royal Sovereign and 
his people, and it is no small satisfaction to me in the hour of 
public tranquillity to reflect that amid the Ravages of Civil War, 
and without injury or infidelity to the service in which I was em- 
ployed, I had my well-meant share in averting, in the moment of 
impending ruin, its utter destruction. May Guardian Angels 
still preserve it, and to the latest desirable period of his life may 
my Reverend and learned friend Dr. Stiles continue to be its 
principal, its ornament and well merited pride and glory." ' 

Col. S. B. Webb's Continental Resfiment has been 
referred to as quite a Yale Corps. It was at this 
date still in Rhode Island, where we last heard of it 
in the action of Aug. 29, 1778. As the colonel was 
a prisoner, and the lieut. -colonel had been absent 
for over a year. Major Huntington was, and con- 
tinued to be for some time, its commanding officer. 
That it was regarded as a fine regiment appears from 
one of Hamilton's reports ; but the most appreciative 

gently to the studies of their respective Classes under the best Tuition they can 
find until God in his Providence may permit them to be peaceably reassembled 
at this seat of Learning." 

' This extract appears in a letter from Amos Botsford to Dr. Stiles, dated 
"Westmoreland, New Brunswick, 27th July, 1789," printed in the New Haven 
Journal and Courier, Oct 6, 1877. 



no Yale in the Revolution, 

mention of it is from the pen of Inspector-General 
Baron Steuben, who, on Sept. 6, 1779, entered the 
following remarks on his manuscript inspection re- 
turns, preserved in the New York Historical Society : 

" This Regt. is divided into 7 comp' & is too weak to form a 
batallion, the only fault I find with the Regt. — it being for the 
first Review the best in order of any Regt. in the army. Their 
arms are a model. The officers take the greatest pains with their 
men. The Regt. marches perfectly, & has truly a military air. 
Majr. Huntington who commands the Regt. deserves particular 
attention for the superior order in which he has kept the Regt. 
The officers have not yet received their commissions & I cannot 
but interest myself for a Corps who have so eminently distin- 
guished themselves." 

Huntington was soon promoted Lieut.-Colonel, 
and Captain Wyllys, class of 1773, Major. 

The record for this year closes with the death of 
Col. Giles Russell, of the Eighth Connecticut Line, 
at Danbury, Oct. 28th. He was an excellent officer, 
though in delicate health, having suffered for some 
time from an old wound received in the French and 
Indian war. He had served in the campaign around 
New York, at Germantown, Valley Forge, and Mon- 
mouth. Referring to his loss and the succession to 
the vacancy, Washington says to Gen. Heath, Nov. 
I, 1779 : 

"... I am sorry to hear of Colonel Russell's death, of whose 
indisposition I had not known. 

" Lieutenant-Colonel Sherman's right of promotion to the rank 
of Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant in consequence must be re- 
ported to the State of Connecticut by the brigadiers of that line, 
agreeable to the terms of the late general order, as must also the 
names of the subalterns of the 8th Regiment entitled to promotion 



Events in ly/g-So. 



Ill 



in consequence of Colonel Russell's death. The State will signify 
their approbation to the Board of War, who will issue Commis- 
sions accordingly. Then, and not before, Colonel Sherman will 
assume his new Command. ..." 

Sherman assumed this command Dec. 28th, follow- 
ing, and retained it until the consolidation of the 
regiments, Jan, i, 1781. The Eighth Regiment had 
thus been successively commanded by three gradu- 
ates — Chandler, Russell, and Sherman, — and had been 
engaged, in whole or in part, at Germantown, Mud 
Island, Monmouth, and Stony Point. 




EVENTS IN 1780-81. 



The Morristown Huts — Severe Winter of 1780 — Letters from Major Hunting- 
ton, Commissary Flint, and Others — Battle of Springfield, N. J. — David 
Humphreys, Aid to Washington — Letters from Gov. Livingston and Gen. 
Paterson — Dr. Stiles in the French Camp — Death of Col. Brown — Major 
Tallmadge and His Services — Letter on Andre — Humphreys' Attempt on 
Clinton — Lieut. -Col. Gray. 

A DEPRESSING year. At the south, in May, we 
lost Charleston ; in August followed the Camden dis- 
aster. Operations in the north, notwithstanding the 
arrival of French support, were confined to manoeu- 
vres, with some clever minor enterprises. Take the 
field over, and fortune smiled on the enemy. 

More than this, in consequence of the protraction 
of the contest, public activity was suffering a sort of 
stagnation, and in turn the army in the field suffered. 
The absence of efificient executive departments un- 
der the Confederation frequently reduced the troops 
to sore straits. Provisions, clothes, money, and men 
were wanting when most needed. The mass of the 
population was not less true to the common aim, but 
it experienced a reaction from the earlier impulse 
and energy. There was the same determination to 
hold out to the end, only a less pronounced enthusi- 
asm, much cavilling at methods, and actually fewer 
resources at hand. 

January ushered in the famous cold winter of 1780, 
— snow four feet deep around the camps in the high- 



Events in ly 80-81. 113 

lands, and " so intense and steady was the weather " 
that for twenty days no thaw could be observed in 
places most exposed to the sun. It was the winter 
when the enemy in New York could send horses and 
artillery down the bay from the Battery to Staten 
Island on the ice, and when they expressed uneasiness 
lest Washington might seize the opportunity to attack 
King's Bridge or the city itself by way of the frozen 
Hudson. 

Winter quarters at Morristown reminded Washing- \ 
ton's troops of Valley Forge two years before. If any \ 
thing this season was severer. Major Huntington \ 
writing to his colonel, Webb, at Wethersfield, says : 

" Morristown, 24th December, 1779, in camp. \ 

"... You will by the date perceive that we are in camp, tho' \ 

expect, if good weather, to have the men's Hutts so far compleated \ 

that they may go into them on Sunday or Monday. The ofificers' i 

Hutts are not begun, nor will they be meddled with till after the men \ 

have finished theirs. The severity of the weather hath been such \ 

that the men have suffer'd much without shoes and stockings, and I 

working half leg deep in snow. Poor fellows, my heart bleeds < 

for them, while I d my country as void of gratitude. I wish 

you would send on to me all the cloathing in store immediately. 
I much want it for the men, tho' am Positively forbid by the Gen- 
eral using scarlet coats on any ace'. I wish that Wyllys, who 
will be at home soon, might have it in his power to receive some 
cloathing and forward it to the Regiment. . . ."' 

Captain Joseph Walker, class of 1774, also of 
Webb's regiment, received a furlough and wrote 
from Hartford to his colonel as follows, under date of 
Feb. 6, 1780: 

" . . .1 left the Reg' the 21^' day of last month and am happy 
to say in much better circumstances at that time than they had 
' This and the extract following, from the Webb "Reminiscences." 



114 Yale in the RevohUion. 

been for weeks before. Our situation in regard to Provision was 
such I never wish to see again. Short commons ever ought to be 
avoided & when it cannot the consequences are to be dreaded in 
the army — that you know. However I can with pleasure inform 
you (& what I think will give you no small satisfaction), that the 
Lads bore it with the greatest patience and fortitude. We con- 
sidered the severity of the season, the difficulty of transportation, 
and were willing to make all allowance possible. 

" My good friend, it requires almost the wisdom of Solomon to 
conduct at these times, and the virtue of the Angel Gabriel to 
surmount the difficulties which, to appearances, come upon us 
as it were in a moment. 

" After our long march you may well think our men were rather 
destitute of cloathing ; after our arrival we began and completed 
our Hutts which destroyed our cloathing still more & to my cer- 
tain knowledge we had not more than Fifty men in the Reg' re- 
turn^ fit for duty, — many a good Lad with nothing to cover him 
from his hips to his Toes save his Blanket, some wanting one thing 
& some another, but the most general complaint was shoes " 

On the same subject — the winter and short rations 
at Morristown — Commissary Royal Flint, class of 
1773, wrote to Washington : 

" Sir : — I have frequently within these few days acquainted Col. 
Hamilton with my prospects of supplies, and thought I had good 
authority for all I communicated — yet now I find the event does 
not precisely agree with what I foretold. As soon as I was in- 
formed that there would be a failure of Beef Cattle from the East- 
ward, I used the most probable methods of procuring a supply in 
this State [N. J.], and I had reason to suppose a sufficiency could 
be collected to serve the army several weeks. . . . But it does 

not yet come, and the army are almost perishing for want. 

" It distresses me exceedingly that I am obliged to make this 
report, but I must mention facts. My expectations are as follows : 

Barrels. 
From Mr. Hooper in Sussex County, Salt Meat, . 400 
From Pitts Town ....... 50 

From the Counties of Middlesex & Somerset . . 250 

700 



Events in ly 80-81, 115 

At the North River are Cattle . . . 200 head. 

In the County of Orange .... 150 

In Sussex at least ..... 20 

In care of Mr. Dunham, say .... 50 

420 

Our distresses are known to the several persons who have charge 
of the foregoing provisions, and I am persuaded they will leave 
nothing undone to forward them. I have no absolute dependence 
on any further supplies of meat than are mentioned above. The 
purchasers here say they could buy cattle if they had money, of 
which I can neither give nor promise them any, as there is not 
the least prospect that any adequate sums of money will be fur- 
nished the department, and our credit is totally exhausted. With 
respect to Bread I can only say that there is Grain in great num- 
ber of mills in this State which is getting ready as fast as possible 
and will not be delayed unnecessarily. I have no more bread at 
present in camp than will serve the troops to-morrow. I fear the 
storm will keep the waggons from moving as well as the cattle 
from travelling. 

" I am with Great Respect, 
"Your Excellency's Most 
" Ob' Serv', 
" Royal Flint, 
" Ass' Com^ purchases. 
" Morristown, Jan^ ■^^ 1780. 

"His Excellency Gen' Washington.'" 

Flint again speaks of his anxiety and exertions as 
to supplies for the snow-bound troops in camp in the 
following letters. On Dec. 27, 1779, he wrote to 
Col. Henry Champion, Deputy Commissary in Con- 
necticut : 

" .... If you fail to supply us our case will grow so desperate 
that the troops must either be let loose to seek food for themselves 
or expedients must be used to compel the inhabitants to spare 
what they need for their families and to stock their plantations. 

' Trumbull Papers, Mass. Hist. Soc. 



ii6 Yale in the Revolution. 

The consequence is certain — there is no possible chance of escap- 
ing it. The General will see his army suffer the greatest extremity 
sooner than have recourse to military authority for relief. He is 
exceedingly cautious and tender in such points ; but the soldiers 
must eat. I well know your difficulties — what you have to en- 
counter from a want of cash — and I as well know you have per- 
severance & abilities for the occasion. Struggle a few days longer 
and I trust your embarrassments will be removed I can- 
not bear the idea of failing at this advanced stage of the war 
when there is so good a prospect of bringing it to a fortunate 
close. Was our army now to break up for want of provisions 
it would give the enemy fresh vigor and stimulate them to 
persist in a contest in which at present they have no hope of 
success. Let all these considerations together produce such 
actions as will enable you to feed the army, and by that means 
render such a service to your country as ought never to be 
forgotten."' 

This earnest appeal, which moved Col. Cham- 
pion to renewed exertions, was followed a few days 
later by another from Flint, addressed to Gov. 
Trumbull : 

" MoRRiSTOWN, Jan'y 6, 1780. 
"... The distress of the army for several days past hardly 
admits of a description. It is a melancholy fact that the troops, 
both officers and men, have almost perished for want of pro- 
visions. In many instances the extremity has been so severe as 
to prompt them to commit depredations on the property of the 
inhabitants. This sudden calamity was occasioned by the early 
commencement and unusual rigor of the winter, attended by 
heavy and repeated falls of snow. By these obstructions trans- 
portation was so delayed that the magazines in the vicinity were 
exhausted before relief could be drawn from the more distant re- 
sources. In this unfortunate situation the Commander-in-Chief 
has been compelled to lay the Contiguous Country under a con- 
tribution, obliging the inhabitants to furnish a certain quantity of 

' This and the extract following from MSS. in possession of Mr. J. F. Morris, 
Hartford, Conn. 



Events in lySo-Si. 117 

provisions within a special time. This expedient, however, is 
only to produce a temporary succour, and will cease its opera- 
tion as soon as the ordinary chanells of supply are open. I think 
there is a tolerable prospect of flour from the Southern States, 
but our principal dependence for meat, as heretofore, rests on 
Connecticut. As Col. Champion has expressed his fears of not 
continuing the supplies, I am persuaded your Legislature will 
consider a circumstance that merits their attention. The most 
material obstruction in his way is the want of cash, and I feel no 
probability of a speedy and adequate remedy to this evil from 
the Continental Treasury. I must therefore request your Excel- 
lency to represent our circumstances to your Legislature, and I 
am convinced they have both ability and inclination to adopt 
regulations suitable to our exigencies. Your state has exhibited 
too many proofs of its attachment to the army to make me doubt 
of its aid on the present occasion." 

By great exertions on the part of quartermasters 
and commissaries sufficient food reached camp, and 
the troops kept in quarters. 

Early in the summer Washington moved the 
greater part of his army toward the Hudson, leaving 
two brigades in New Jersey under General Greene. 
The enemy, under Knyphausen, marched out from 
Staten Island, and attacked this force on June 23d in 
the vicinity of Springfield. We came out of the en- 
gagement with credit. One of the brigades was 
Stark's, which then included Webb's regiment, under 
Lieut. -Col. Huntington, and Henry Jackson's, hav- 
ing eight or nine graduates among their officers. 

It is interesting to find — a fact not heretofore 
brought out — that David Humphreys was also on the 
ground at Springfield, acting as aid-de-camp to 
Greene, and that he transmitted the first account of 
the fighting to the Commander-in-Chief. The re- 



ii8 Yale in the Revolution. 

port, in the form of a letter, is subjoined, not only as 
new material, but as being one of the few reports 
made directly from the battle-field and during the 
progress of the action, found in Revolutionary rec- 
ords. The original in the Sparks' collection at Har- 
vard College is as follows : 

"Heights near Springfield, June 23, 'So, 
"II o'clock, A.M. 

"Sir: 

" General Greene directs me to inform your Excellency, that from 
the best intelligence he is able to obtain, the enemy are now out 
in force, with seventeen pieces of artillery — At first they made a 
demonstration of acting on his right ; and large parties were seen 
from the heights of Springfield filing off in that direction : A con- 
siderable column, in the meantime, advanced on his left, where 
Major Lee with a body of militia was posted, between whom and 
the enemy there was some skirmishing without any considerable 
effect. 

" After having spent two or three hours, in various manoeuvres 
apparently with a design of gaining our flanks, they of a sudden 
contracted their front, and pushed a column up the main road to 
Springfield where a sharp action ensued for a short time, between 
some detachments, which were posted to cover our artillery on the 
height, and then advance. — Our troops retreated in order, and 
brought off the field pieces. 

"The troops are advantageously posted to annoy the enemy's 
progress — and General Greene is determined to dispute every 
inch of strong ground with them. Indeed they must have 
been very much galled before they got possession of Springfield, 
as they rec'' several very heavy and well directed fires from 
Angel's & Shreeve's Reg" which behaved with the greatest 
gallantry. 

" The firing has now principally ceased — the loss on either 
side cannot be ascertained — on our it is not great — Several of 
our wounded are brought off — A Dragoon Horse of the detach- 
ment which escorted General Greene was killed with a cannon 
shot. I have heard of no officers killed and but few slightly 



Events in ly 80-81. 119 

wounded — they have this moment set fire to two or three build- 
ings — how far the conflagration will extend, I know not — In the 
greatest haste — 

" I have the honor to be 
" Your Excellency's 

'' Most Obed. Hble Serv' 

" D. HUMPHRYS. 

"His Excellency Gen' Washington." 
[Endorsed] 

Opened at Mr. Lotts 5, o'clock, P. M. 
by your 

Hum' Serv' 

Ant'*^ Wayne." 

Humphreys before this had been aid to Gen. Put- 
nam, and he was now temporarily with Greene. 
Fortune favored him still farther with an advance- 
ment to Washington's staff, and on the day of the 
Springfield action his new appointment was announced 
as follows : 

" Head Quarters, Rackaway, 

" Friday, June 23, 1780, 

"... Cap' David Humphreys of the Connecticut Line is 
appointed Aid de Camp to the Commander-in-Chief, and is to be 
respected and obeyed accordingly. . . ." ' 

This promotion led to that well-known intimacy 
which afterwards subsisted between Humphreys and 
Washington. In his poem on " The Happiness of 
America," he refers to the changes mentioned in his 
own military career as follows : 

" I too, perhaps, should heav'n prolong my date. 

The oft-repeated tale shall oft relate ; 

Shall tell the feelings in the first alarms. 

Of some bold enterprize th' unequall'd charms ; 

' From Lt.-Col. Grosvenor's MSS. Order-Book, while serving as Inspector 
of the Connecticut Division. 



I20 Yale in the Revohdton. 

Shall tell from whom I learnt the martial art, 
With what high chiefs I play'd my early part, 
With Parsons first, whose eye, with piercing ken, 
Reads through their hearts the characters of men ; 
Then how I aided, in the foll'wing scene, 
Death-daring Putnam — then immortal Greene — 
Then how great Washington my youth approv'd, 
In rank prefer'd, and as a parent loved 
(For each fine feeling in his bosom blends 
The first of heroes, sages, patriots, friends) ; 
With him what hours on warlike plans I spent, 
Beneath the shadow of th' Imperial tent, 
With him how oft I went the nightly round, 
Thro' moving hosts, or slept on tented ground ; 
From him how oft (nor far below the first 
In high behests and confidential trust) — 
From him how oft I bore the dread commands. 
Which destined for the fight the eager bands ; 
With him how oft I past th' eventful day. 
Rode by his side, as down the long array. 
His awful voice the columns taught to form. 
To point the thunders, and to pour the storm." 

An earnest, patriotic letter from Gov. Livingston 
to Baron Steuben, written about this time, will be 
read with interest. One may gather from its tone 
how New Jersey came to lean upon him through the 
war : 

" Raritan, 2ist June, 1780. 
" Dr. Baron: — 1 met your favor of yesterday on the road on my 
Return from the Assembly. They have passed a more rigorous 
Law for reducing the Militia to military discipline ; and the Law 
for filling up our Brigade, I hope will also speedily have its Effect. 
But it must be confessed that Ave are always too late and generally 
begin to think of providing our Quota when we ought to open the 
Campaign. I am sorry to hear that our Militia quit their Posts 
before the expiration of their time. It is indeed enough to exhaust 
the Patience of any officer who has the direction of them. But, 



Events in ij8o-8i. 121 

my dear Sir, there is a kind of passive as well as active fortitude 
that we must exercise, on these occasions, & General Washington 
who has exhibited a thousand instances of that kind of suffering 
Heroism, ought to animate us all by his illustrious example. 
Think not, my dear Baron, of resigning your present Command ; 
tho' in one sense an officer is in danger of reaping n'ot but dis- 
grace by commanding such a disorderly band ; yet when it is duly 
considered how disorderly they are, & that he does great things 
even with such material, it must add to his Glory. 

" The Militia from the lower Counties of this State are on their 
way in considerable numbers. Gov. Reed [of Penn.] informs 
me that his militia are ready to march to our assistance at a mo- 
ment's warning. 

" You want not, Sir, the addition of my Testimony in proof of 
the great obligations under which you have laid this Country by 
your signal services. But great as your merit is you may still 
give it an additional Lustre by rising superior to all the Difficul- 
ties with which I see you embarrassed. 

** I have the honor to be, 

" Dr. Sir, &c., 
" William Livingston. 

" Major-Gen'l Baron Steuben,'" 

Another from Gen. Paterson is a call for arms, as 
follows, addressed to the President of the Massachu- 
setts State Council : 

" West Point, July 27th, 1780. 
" Sir : — The bad economy, which has inseperably attended the 
operations of America (until very lately) has reduced our Arms 

' Original in possession of S. L. M. Barlow, Esq., New York. 

Gov. Livingston's pen was equal to any occasion, and at other times he could 
be as humorous to Steuben as he was serious at this. At the close of the war, for 
instance, when the Baron applied for the confiscated property of the Bayards at 
Hoboken, Livingston wrote from Trenton, Nov. 7, 17S3, that it would be diffi- 
cult to obtain the grant, and added : "If you never was on the spot yourself in 
the months of July, August, or September, & if I thought myself at liberty 
to obtrude my advice upon you, I would say that considering how often you are 
exposed to lose blood in the way of your profession as a soldier, I would dis- 
suade you from putting it in the power of the musketoes at Hoebuck to augment 
the effusion ; for never did I set my foot in a place where that troublesome & 
venomous little volatile during those months swarmed in greater abundance." 
—N. Y. Hist. Soc. MSS. 



122 Yale in the Revohttion. 

to so small a number, that we are not able to arm our New Levies ; 
from what cause this has arisen is not my business at present to 
attend to, tho' I think it obvious. 

*' The operations of this year depend entirely upon the single 
circumstance of our being able to procure a sufficiency. By some 
fatal misconduct, or neglect, the Arms expected from Europe 
are not arrived, and indeed cannot be expected in season ; it is 
therefore necessary to use every exertion in our power for an 
immediate supply. 

"I have advised Baron Steuben, Inspector General, to apply to 
the New England States, for the loan of a certain number, that 
they may have on hand, or could collect from the several Towns ; 
tho' this may be attended with difficulty, and in some instances 
(to appearances) injure individuals, yet when put in competition 
with an inert campaign, it certainly bears no comparison. 

" The Baron has requested me to write you on the subject ; I 
have not the least doubt, but you will do every thing in your 
power to procure an immediate supply ; the success of this year 
most certainly will in a great degree depend on it, and probably 
the events of the war. 

" I am, your honor's 
" Most obedient and very 

" Humble Servant, 

" John Paterson. 

" Hon"'= Jeremiah Powell." ' 

In the latter part of September President Stiles 
visted his old Newport parish, and took the oppor- 
tunity to call upon officers of the French army, which 
had lately arrived at that place. He speaks of them 
as follows : 

"1780. 

" Oct. 5. Introduced to the Commander in Chief of the French 
allied army, the Count de Rochambeau. 
" 7. Dined at the Generals — de Rochambeau. Gen' Arnolds 

Flight from West point, 25"* ult. 
" 8. Lds day. I preached in the Sabb. -Meeting to my Dear 
' Mass. State Archives, Revolutionary Letters, vol. x. 



Events in ij8o-8i. 123 

Newp' Flock. My Meet^ house and three others 
taken up for the Hospitals. 
" 9. Dined at Gen' de Chatelux in a splendid manner, on 35 
Dishes. He is a capital Literary Character, a Member 
of the French Academy. He is the Glory of the 
Army. After Dinner the Minister of France, the 
Chevalier de la Luzerne, with the General, came in & 
socially conversed round the Table. We had news 
last Even^ that Major Andre, the British spy connected 
with Arnold, was Executed at Gen. Washington's camp 
last Monday noon. 

" 10. Visiting. 

" II. Dined at Mr. Channings with Generals Veiomenel & 
Chattelux & a number of French officers. 

" 16. Writ^ Lett, to Dr. Franklin at Paris . . . 

" 17. Anniversary of the Victory at Saratoga, 1777 . . . 

" 19. Took Leave of the General, the Count de Rochambeau, 
and all Friends in Newport, & left it & sat out on 
Journey for N. Haven." 

It was in the fall of this year that that good soldier, 
Col. John Brown, class of 1771, met his death in the 
field. His services in Canada and in the Burgoyne 
campaign marked him as one of the ablest partisan 
officers on our side, and now that troops were needed 
to protect the settlements in Central New York, he 
again volunteered with Berkshire militia to meet the 
enemy in that quarter. He marched to Stone Ara- 
bia, where he received orders fron Gen. Van Renn- 
selaer to relieve a small post. On the way he was 
attacked by a large body of Indians and regulars, 
and after a sharp action, killed with forty of his 
men. His death was much regretted. Humphreys, 
who was one of his classmates, feelingly refers to 
him as follows, in his " Address to the Armies of 
America." 



124 Yale ill the Revolution. 

"Ah hapless friend ! permit the tender tear 
To flow e'en now, for none flow'd on thy bier, 
Where, cold and mangled, under northern skies, 
To famished wolves a prey thy body lies — 
Which erst so fair and tall in youthful grace, 
Strength in thy nerves, and beauty in thy face. 
Stood like a tow'r, till struck by the swift ball — 
Then what avail'd (to ward th' untimely fall) 
The force of limbs, the mind so well informed, 
The taste refin'd, the breast with friendship warm'd 
(That friendship which our earliest years begun). 
Or what the laurels that thy sword had won. 
When the dark bands from thee, expiring, tore 
Thy long hair, mingled with the spouting gore ? " 

It is at this period of the war, also, that Major 
Tallmadge's services come more prominently into 
notice. We may recall him as one of Hale's class- 
mates, Chester's adjutant in 1776, afterwards captain, 
and now major of Sheldon's Dragoons. In the latter 
capacity he won the confidence of Washington and 
was entrusted by him with delicate and responsible 
duties. It was through Tallmiadge's agency that 
important lines of secret communication were estab- 
lished with persons on Long Island and in New York, 
from whom much needed intelligence of the enemy's 
movements and designs was received. How far 
Washington depended on this channel of information 
appears from a number of his published letters and 
from Tallmadge's "Memoirs."' The Major also 
played a leading part in the capture of Andre and 
was with him much of the time until his execution. 

' An article, entitled " The Secret Service of the Revolution," published in 
the Magazine of American History, for February, 1882, contains extracts on 
this point from the private correspondence then carried on between Tallmadge 
and the Commander-in-Chief. 



Events in ijSo-Si. 125 

One of his letters respecting that unfortunate officer, 
recently brought to light, runs as follows : 

" Head Qrs., Tappan, Sept. 30th, 1780. 
"Dear Sir: 

" . . . You have doubtless heard before this of the rascally 
conduct of Arnold. He is gone to the Enemy, where I think his 
misery, from the neglect which must ensue, will be complete. 
Poor Andre, who has been under my charge almost ever since he 
was taken, has yesterday had his tryal, and tho' his Sentence is 
not known, a disgraceful death is undoubtedly allotted to him. 
By Heavens ! Col. Webb, I never saw a man whose fate I fore- 
saw whom I so sincerely pitied. He is a young fellow of the 
greatest accomplishments, and was the prime minister of S' 
Harry on all occasions. He has unbosomed his heart to me so 
fully, & indeed let me know almost every motive of his actions 
since he came out on his late mission, that he has endeared me to 
him exceedingly. Unfortunate Man ! He will undoubtedly suf- 
fer Death tomorrow, & tho' he knows his fate, seems to be as 
cheerful as if he was going to an Assembly. I am sure he will go 
to the Gallows less fearful for his fate and with less concern than 
I shall behold the tragedy. Had he been tried by a Court of 
Ladies, he is so genteel, hatidsome, polite a young Gentleman, that 
I am confident they would have acquitted him. 

*' But enough of poor Andre, who, tho' he dies lamented, falls 
justly. I am happy to find he has wrote to S' Harry Clinton, in 
which letter he speaks highly of our treatment towards him, & 
takes off the idea of his being under Sanction of a flagg when he 
was taken, which had been told by Arnold to S' Harry, that our 
Conduct in punishing him might be Censurable. I think his 
letter to Gen. Clinton will effectually ruin Arnold with the Enemy. 

" Jos. Smith, an accomplice with Arnold, I also bro't on with 
me. He is now under tryal. . . . 
" In haste, believe me 

" Your friend & most obed't Servant, 

** Benj'. Tallmadge. 

" Col. Samuel Webb, at Mr. Bancker's, on the Raritan, State of 
N. Jersey."' 

' From the Webb " Reminiscences." 



126 Yale in the Revolution, 

Tallmadge, furthermore, distinguished himself in 
some gallant exploits, one of which occurred on 
November 21st of this year. He conducted an ex- 
pedition in boats across the Sound, marched to Fort 
George, at Oyster Bay, surprised and captured the 
garrison of Tory refugees, burned vessels, stores, and 
hay, and returned to Fairfield, without the loss of a 
man. Washington complimented him highly and 
transmitted his report of the affair to Congress, which 
showed its appreciation by passing the following 
resolution : 

"In Congress, December 6th, 1780. 

" While Congress are sensible of the patriotism, courage and 
perseverance of the officers and privates of their regular forces, 
as well as of the militia throughout the United States, and of the 
military conduct of the principal commanders in both, it gives 
them pleasure to be so frequently called upon to confer marks of 
distinction and applause for enterprises which do honour to the 
profession of arms, and claim a high rank among military achieve- 
ments. In this light they view the enterprise against Fort St. 
George, on Long Island, planned and conducted with wisdom 
and great gallantry by Major Tallmadge, of the light dragoons, 
and executed with intrepidity and complete success by the offi- 
cers and soldiers of his detachment : 

"Ordered, therefore, That Major Tallmadge's report to the 
Commander-in-Chief be published, with the preceding minute, 
as a tribute to distinguished merit and in testimony of the sense 
Congress entertain of this brilliant service. 

'* Extracts from the minutes, 

" Charles Thomson, Se'cy." 

In Tallmadge's party was a young graduate of '76, 
Heathcote Muirson, who joined him as a volunteer, 
and behaved so well that he was offered a commission 
in the Dragoons on the next vacancy. Washington's 
high opinion of Tallmadge was expressed again long 




•ni- 



^•'ffS.-. 






MAJOR SECOND RE&IMENT LIG-HT DRAGOONS CONTINENTAL ARM\' 



Tjvm. ih£. ftncil Sl<e< 



Rvents in ly 80-81. 127 

after the war, when he recommended him for the 
command of the cavalry corps which it was proposed 
to attach to our Provisional Army of 1798. 

One of the last incidents of the year was an at- 
tempt made by Col. Humphreys to capture Sir 
Henry Clinton, or the German General, Knyphausen, 
at New York. With Capt. Roger Welles, of the 
class of 1775, who had served during the summer in 
Lafayette's light infantry corps, two other officers 
and about forty men, he went down the Hudson, 
Dec. 25th, in the hope of surprising one of the gen- 
erals at his quarters in the city. The wind, however, 
as Heath tells us, rose freshly from the northwest dur- 
ing the night, and the three boats of the expedition 
were driven past the Battery. A landing being im- 
possible, they slipped by the enemy's shipping in the 
harbor, went through the Narrows, and finally made 
their way unobserved to Brunswick, whence the party 
returned by land to the army on Jan. ist. The un- 
dertaking was a daring one, but Humphreys had had 
some experience in such warfare, as he accompanied 
Col. Meigs on his famous Sag Harbor expedition in 
1777, and in 1778 himself took a party across the 
Sound and burned some supply vessels. 

West Point and vicinity became winter-quarters for 
a portion of the army this year as last. The Con- 
necticut Division built huts on the east side of the 
river not far from the Robinson House, Lieut.-Col. 
Gray, class of 1763, being appointed superintendent 
of the encampment. Writing to his brother, Dec. 
22, 1780 (the letter in Miss Learned's Windham 
Co., Conn.), he says : 



128 Yale in the Revolution. 

" Our huts are built where there is plenty of wood and water. 
We have had our starvation season — I hope the whole of it. It 
seems as if 'twas decreed in the Book of jFates that wherever we 
hut we should have short allowance ; and when Congress order 
us to keep a day of thanksgiving and rejoicing in the success and 
plenty wherewith Providence hath blessed us, that the army have 
nothing to make the heart glad, and a dismal and dark prospect 
before us. This has been the case for three years past ; but I 
hope and pray and believe that the scene is changed and better 
days and times are coming." 










^^ 






^ 


w 


JJ^^^P^^^ 




^s 








Wky 


jT^ 


l& 


^^^^^^K 




^H 






jjA. A\s&^ 


«J(Y'^y 


1^ 


s 


^^^^«] 












Sasri'-aL! 


^fe 


^gro^ 


^^^^K^^Ki 



EVENTS IN 1781-82. 

Situation at the North — Col. Hull's Affair at the Outposts — Lafayette's Vir- 
ginia Expedition — Major Wyllys — Letters from Capt. Welles and Others 
— The Yorktown Campaign — Graduate Officers at the Siege — Humphreys 
and the Captured Flags — Rejoicings — President Stiles to Washington. 

This the closing year of active operations, which 
terminated so brilHantly at Yorktown, opened much 
as other years had opened — bHndly, without any sig- 
nificant indications except in the far South. There 
Greene and CornwaUis were facing each other ; but 
what turn the situation in the North would take was 
for the first five months altogether conjectural. To 
Washington the outlook was discouraging. The 
army was greatly reduced in numbers, supplies lim- 
ited, the public credit low. It seemed certain that as 
the enemy were still sending reinforcements to the 
South they would undertake no offensive operations 
in the North, in which case Washington would be 
compelled either to remain idle, or, in conjunction 
with the French allies then in Rhode Island, threaten 
New York ; but there, without a cooperating fleet, 
success could hardly be looked for. It was not until 
late in May that a campaign was proposed. 

Meantime two enterprises varied the monotony, in 
each of which graduates took part. One was an ex- 
ploit, successfully conducted by that admirable ofificer, 
Lieut.-Colonel William Hull, than whom few if any 

129 



I30 Yale in the Revolution. 

of his rank could show a finer record. He had par- 
ticipated in the siege of Boston and the operations 
around New York in 1775 and 1776, and had en- 
gaged, generally in close action, at the battles of 
White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, the Ticonderoga 
retreat, Saratoga, Monmouth, and Stony Point. 
Washington's personal esteem for him was well 
known ; it was the same esteem that he accorded, 
upon the same ground of capacity and meritorious 
service, to Hull's college mates, Sherman, Humph- 
reys, and Tallmadge. 

In the winter of 1780-81 Hull commanded the out- 
posts of the army on Croton River. Below, towards 
King's Bridge, lay the middle ground subject to raids 
by Americans and British alike, and where they fre- 
quently met and skirmished. On Dec. 31, 1780, the 
latter indulged in one of their excursions, which Gen. 
Heath, then commanding in the Highlands, mentions 
in his diary as follows : 

" This day the enemy were out again. Col. Hull immediately 
marched down with his whole force to meet them ; by his vigi- 
lance they were prevented from doing any mischief, and on his 
advance retired towards the saw-pits." 

Hull now proposed to return the compliment. He 
requested permission to beat up the quarters of 
DeLancy's Refugee corps at Morrisania, opposite 
Harlem, and destroy bridges, barracks, and forage. 
Heath submitted the plan to Washington, who ap- 
proved of it. On the 2 2d of January Hull marched, 
with about five hundred men, towards King's Bridge, 
passed Fort Independence unnoticed, left a detach- 
ment to destroy a pontoon bridge across the Harlem 



Events in I y 8 1-82. 131 

opposite Fort Washington, and pushing on to Mor- 
risania succeeded in effecting a partial surprise of the 
post early on the morning of the 23d. He took 
prisoners, burned the enemy's quarters and consider- 
able forage, and then returned by way of East 
Chester, where Gen. Parsons, with three regiments 
under Colonels Hazen, Scammell, and Sherman, had 
taken post to cover his retreat. Hull had, in effect, 
penetrated eight miles into the enemy's lines, and 
marched between forty and fifty miles, almost with- 
out a rest. During- the last two miles he was com- 
pelled to skirmish with the enemy, who took the 
alarm and followed him up. With small loss he re- 
turned to the Croton lines — the affair being regarded 
as a bold, well-executed, successful dash. Parsons' 
and Hull's reports of the enterprise were published 
by order of Congress " in testimony of its approba- 
tion of the spirit and military conduct displayed by 
the officers and men" on the occasion. Gen. Par- 
sons says in his report : 

" In justice to Lieut.-Col. Hull and his officers, I ought to say 
that much of the success of this enterprise is owing to the judi- 
cious arrangements made by him, and the fortitude and address 
with which they were executed by them ; and in the state of ex- 
cessive fatigue of his men, the retiring through West Chester in 
good order, and bringing off his prisoners, near two miles, under 
the enemy's fire, until he was supported by Col. Hazen, does him 
great honor . . . And I feel myself under great obligations 
to Colonels Hazen, Scammell, and Sherman, for the great assist- 
ance I received from them in making the necessary arrangements^ 
and the cheerfulness with which they and the troops under their 
command executed the several parts of duty assigned to them." 

Parsons also states that he advanced Col. Sher- 



132 Yale in the Revolution. 

man on the road from William's Bridge to East Ches- 
ter, to prevent the enemy from intercepting Hull by 
that route. " On his taking post on a hill east of the 
village, the British halted and did not advance again." 

Washington and Heath both congratulated Hull 
and his command on their exploit. 

The second enterprise was Lafayette's expedition 
into Virginia, which was destined to play an impor- 
tant part in the capture of Cornwallis. It was or- 
ganized originally to attempt the capture of Arnold, 
who, with a British detachment, had taken post at 
Portsmouth, Va. ; but the plan miscarried through 
failure of naval cooperation. Lafayette was then 
dispatched into Central Virginia to face Cornwallis, 
who was moving up from North Carolina in that di- 
rection, and there, in May, June, and July, the former 
conducted his skilful defensive campaign, in which 
he was almost constantly on the march, successfully 
avoiding the superior force of the enemy, and at the 
same time preventing him from "occupying" the 
State. Cornwallis closed his movements in August 
by settling down at Yorktown, with Lafayette watch- 
ing him from different points on the peninsula above. 

Five graduates were with Lafayette in this impor- 
tant preliminary campaign in Virginia. The expedi- 
tion, as first organized, included three battalions of 
select troops — light infantry — mainly from New 
England. One of these battalions, commanded by 
Lieut.-Col. Gimat, a French officer, had for its major 
John Palsgrave Wyllys, while three of its eight cap- 
tains were Jonathan Heart, Samuel A. S. Barker, 
and Roger Welles ; and among the ensigns was 



Eveiits in i '/81-82, 133 

Ebenezer Daggett, youngest son of ex-President 
Daggett, of the college. It so happened that this 
particular regiment not only distinguished itself 
under Lafayette's command during the summer, but 
was to be given the opportunity of distinguishing it- 
self above all other regiments at the crowning event 
of the campaign — the siege of Yorktown. In the 
sharp skirmish of Green Spring, near Jamestown, on 
July 6th, Wyllys was in command ; and as for Capt. 
Welles, we find him not only a gallant soldier, but a 
frequent letter-writer also, which for us in these days 
of inquisitive search for new material was a fortunate 
circumstance. Several interesting Revolutionary let- 
ters from his pen are preserved, some of which are 
here introduced in their proper connection. The 
following, written to his father from the heart of Vir- 
ginia, while Lafayette was giving Cornwallis the 
chase through the State, is one of a very few refer- 
ring to those movements known to exist : 

" Light Infantry Camp (Louisa County), June i6, 1781. 
''Hon'd Sir: 

"By Capt. Hart, who arrived the nth Instant, I received your 
favor of the 28th of April last, together with what was intrusted 
to his care. I am much obliged to you, Sir, for being at the 
trouble of collecting the money and cloth sent on ; it could 
never have arrived at a happier period. It found me very desti- 
tute of summer clothes, and almost every other necessary req- 
uisite to render life tolerabile in this uninhabited world. We 
frequently march whole days without seeing any thing like a 
house, except a log hut or two. The people of this country are 
the most ignorant, miserable wretches on earth. Tenants, who 
are perfect slaves to their landlords, and scarcely know they have 
an existence. The Marquiss, till lately having a force far infe- 
rior to the enemy, was obliged to retreat a considerable distance 



134 Yale in the Revolution, 

into the country. After Earl Cornwallis had formed a junction 
with Arnold (I say Arnold, because Gen. Phillips died a day or 
two before Cornwallis arrived), he found himself at the head of 
about 5000 men. Our army, being re-inforced by the Pennsyl- 
vania line, is now about equal in number to that of the enemy ; 
but the greater half are militia. Expect hourly to be joined by 
Baron Steuben, with a thousand men. This gives us so much 
the superiority that the enemy are now retiring, and its the 
opinion of some that they will make the best of their way back to 
Portsmouth. The enemy have much the advantage of us in Light 
Horse, as we have few here but Militia horse. Tarlton, with a 
party of L. Dragoons, a few days since penetrated into the 
country as far as Albermarle, the seat of government (about 70 or 
80 miles distant from Richmond), and made prisoners two or 
three of the House of Burgesses, did very little other mischief, 
and returned with great speed. Were the Militia of this country 
under as good regulations as those of N. England, four or five 
hundred horse would not be able to ravage the country 40 miles 
distant from their main body, and even without a gun's being 
fired at them. All the arms belonging to this State are deposited 
in public stores, from which the militia are furnished when they are 
called into the field ; but are never able to act on any emergency. 
I should have wrote by Capt. Hart were I apprehensive he would 
have gone to Conn', to acknowledge the receipt of a letter and 
some other articles by Capt. Francis last winter. My situation 
has been such for several months, I have scarcely had an oppor- 
tunity of sending, and now its not direct. There's an officer 
going to the Grand Army by whom I shall write to Capt. Williams, 
and enclose this to be forwarded. ... As the gentleman is 
now waiting I must desist, and am, with the greatest affection, 
your son, R. Welles. 

" My respects to all my friends." ' 

It was during the progress of this campaign in 
Virginia that Washington planned his own grand 
combination against Cornwallis, Assured that De 

' From the original in possession of Mr. Roger Welles, great-grandson of 
Capt. Welles, Newington, Conn. 



Events in i'/8i~82. 135 

Grasse with a powerful French fleet would appear in 
the Chesapeake in the latter part of August, and as- 
sured by Lafayette that the British general had es- 
tablished himself at Yorktown with the evident inten- 
tion of remaining there for a time, he immediately 
abandoned his pretended operations against New 
York, and leaving Clinton in the lurch, put nearly 
half his Continentals and all the French troops on the 
march for Virginia. The movement was executed 
with great skill and precision, and on the 26th of 
September the entire force was concentrated with 
Lafayette's little army at Williamsburg eleven miles 
above Yorktown. The trap was successfully set. 
Blockaded on the bay by the French fleet, and his re- 
treat landward cut off by Washington and Rocham- 
beau, Cornwallis could not escape. 

Captain Welles has another interesting letter for 
us here, showing that the troops appreciated the suc- 
cess of Washington's splendid move, and were eager 
to add the finishing stroke. To his father again : 

"Camp Williamsburg, Sept. 15, 17S1. 

" I hope I shall not be obliged to write at this distance many 
weeks longer. We have now the fairest prospect of capturing 
Lord Cornwallis with his Army. Doubtless ere this you have 
received an account of the arrival of the French in the Bay of 
Chesapeak with twenty-eight sail of the Line, and betwixt three 
and four thousand land forces. The troops are landed and now 
performing duty with us. They are as fine a body of men as I ever 
saw. The greatest harmony as yet subsists between the Allied 
Army. 

" Last evening was announced the arrival of his Excellency 
General Washington from the Northward, by the discharge of 
cannon &c., on which the troops were immediately paraded and 
reviewed by his Excellency, which seemed to give new life and 



136 Yale in the RevohUion. 

spirits to every soldier in the Army. It is said he is to be fol- 
lowed by 6 or 8 thousand troops from the Northward some of 
which are expected immediately. The army after forming a 
junction will consist of near 20,000, including militia. The 
enemy, who are about 5 or 6000 in number, are strongly fortify- 
ing themselves in Yorktown, about twelve miles from this place. 
We expect orders hourly to move down and closely besiege them. 
With common success a force so much superior to theirs must 
soon reduce them. We all wish most heartily it may be the case, 
if for no other reason than that we may turn to the Northward 
again. We are tired of this climate, though the troops in general 
have been tolerably healthy. For my own part, by the hot season 
and fatigue I was a little reduced, but by leaving the Reg' and 
quartering in a good house I recruited again very soon. 

" I think it probable you have heard the particulars of the James- 
town affair before this time. Our Reg' had a small share in the 
skirmish, but suffered very little loss. Not an ofificer wounded. 
I think we have been exceedingly fortunate. The Marquiss has 
conducted more like a Fabius through the campaign than an as- 
piring boy, as Lord Cornwallis was pleased to call him. 

" This from your affectionate and dutiful Son, 

" Roger Welles. 

" My duty to my dear Mother and love to all friends. I wish 
most sincerely to see you all." 

It only remained for the allied army to move 
down upon Yorktown and invest the place, which 
was done on the 28th of September. Then came 
the rigorous siege of nineteen days, and Cornwallis 
surrendered. 

About twelve graduates participated in this final 
and greatest operation of the war. Five have been 
mentioned as being with Lafayette. With Washing- 
ton came his aid, David Humphreys. Captain David 
Bushnell was present with the corps of Sappers and 
Miners. Among the Continentals which Washing- 
ton brought down was a regiment of Light Infantry 



Events in iy8i-82. 137 

under Col. Alexander Scammell, whose lleut.-col- 
onel was Ebenezer Huntington, one of the captains, 
James Morris, a lieutenant, Nathan Haynes Whit- 
ing, and the surgeon's mate, ^neas Munson, from 
Yale. This regiment was placed with the other se- 
lect troops under Lafayette, whose position was on 
the right of the besieging line. His force consisted 
of six Light Infantry battalions, and it is interest- 
ing to note that of their twelve field officers, all of 
whom were veterans of the war, eight were gradu- 
ates of colleges, namely. Col. Scammell and Maj. 
Rice, of Harvard ; Lieut.-Col. Huntington and Maj. 
Wyllys, of Yale ; Lieut.-Col. Barber and Maj. 
Cumming, of Princeton ; Lieut.-Col. Hamilton, of 
Columbia ; and Lieut.-Col. Laurens, educated in 
England. 

The turning-point of the siege was the capture, on 
the night of Oct. 14th, of two British redoubts which 
commanded their lines. One was assaulted by the 
French and the other by the American Liffht In- 
fantry, with Gimat's regiment, of which Wyllys was 
major, in advance. With the exception of Humph- 
reys, our graduates there belonged to the assaulting 
column or the reserve corps, and probably all were 
present. After the surrender, Humphreys was com- 
missioned by Washington to convey the captured flags 
to Philadelphia and present them to Congress, a 
scene which afterwards became the subject of an his- 
torical painting. Congress on the occasion voted him 
an elegant sword. 

Referring to the surrender, Capt. Welles writes to 
his father Oct. 23, 1781 : 



138 Yale in the RevohUion. 

" The hurry and confusion we have been in since the Capitula- 
tion has prevented my writing you any thing particular respecting 
the siege. I have not yet been able to obtain the Articles of 
Capitulation, tho' I make no doubt you may receive them before 
this will reach you. I am told they are nearly the same as Clin- 
ton gave Gen'l Lincoln at Charlestown. Cornwallis has sur- 
rendered a very fine army. They are said to amount to upwards 
of seven thousand. The most pleasing sight I ever beheld, to see 
those haughty fellows march out of their strong fortifications and 
ground their ar7ns. There is found in their magazines a great 
plenty of provisions, a considerable quantity of ammunition, and 
a great number of cannon, both brass and iron. This is by far 
the heaviest loss the enemy have sustained since the war. We 
expect soon to be on our way to the Northward." 

Capt. Morris, the young officer who was taken pris- 
oner at Germantown, had been exchanged and was 
now at Yorktown. He has this brief description of 
the surrender : 

"The 1 8th day was a day of respite. Our soldiers were di- 
rected to wash up and appear clean on the next day. The British 
were snug in their tents during this time. On the 19th day our 
whole army and the french army assembled, our army on the 
right and the French army on the left, about 6 rods apart, and 
each line reached more than a mile on an extended plain. We 
were thus drawn up to receive the vanquished. The British army 
marched out between our two armies, drums beating their own 
tunes, colours muffled ; and after they passed in a review of our 
army they piled their arms on the field of submission and returned 
back in the same manner into Yorktown." 

With the surrender came rejoicings throughout the 
.country. At New Haven, says the Connecticut 
Journal, " a numerous assembly convened at the 
Brick Meeting House, where the audience were highly 
entertained with an animating, pathetic, and ingenious 
oration, delivered by one of the Tutors [Mr. Meigs], 



Events in 1 281-82. 139 

and a Triumphant hymn sung by the students." ' The 
college and residences were " beautifully illuminated" 
in the evening. 

In Heath's camp on the Hudson the enthusiasm 
was unbounded. Capt. S. W. Williams, class of 1772, 
wrote to Col. S. B. Webb, Nov. 2^ : 

" The surrender of his Lordship was celebrated here on Wed- 
nesday last — an entertainment was provided in open field for all 
the officers of the army when we made use of 120 gallons of Ma- 
deira with a Quantum Sufficit of Spirits &c. A more sociable 
time I never experienced — every one was happy, many perfectly 
so — indeed the whole week has been but one continued Hurra 
from Right to Left." ' 

The college conferred the degree of LL.D. on 
Washington, and subsequently in transmitting the 
diploma President Stiles wrote him as follows : 

"Yale College, Dec. 8, 1781. 
" Sir : 

" You will receive by Col. Humphrey the Diploma & the Doc- 
torate in Laws conferred upon you by the Senatus Academicus of 
this University. 

" That this Literary Honor, this Tribute of academic Respect 
proved agreeable, we are happy to find by the Letter of acknowl- 
edgement you did me the honor to write me on the occasion. 

" We rejoice that the Sovereign of the Universe hath hitherto 
supported you, as the deliverer of your Country, the Defender of 
the Liberty & Rights of Humanity, and the Maecenas of Science 
and Literature. We share the public Joy, and Congratulate our 
Country on the Glory of your arms, and that eminence to which 

' Tutor Meigs' oration was printed and a copy sent to Washington by Presi- 
dent Stiles. In acknowledging its receipt, he wrote from Newburg, April i, 
1782 : " I entreat you will make that Gentleman sensible of the high gratifica- 
tion I have received from his ingenious performance, and that you will be con- 
vinced of the ardent passion I have for the promotion of the Cause of Litera- 
ture in general and especially of the pleasure I feel in the increasing reputation 
and ability of the Seat of Learning under your immediate direction." — Sides' 
Letter Books. 

'' From the Webb " Reminiscences." 



I40 Yale in the Revolution. 

you have ascended in the recent Victory over the Earl of Corn- 
wallis & his army in Virginia, under such evident and astonish- 
ing marks of the divine Interposition. With every sentiment of 
Respect & Honour, 

" I am, Sir, 

" Your Excellency's most 
" obed'. serv'., 

" Ezra Stiles. 
"His Excellency G. Washington." 



£^^MfiM. 



The Yorktown army, returning north, reached the 
Hudson camps about Dec. ist, "all pleased," says 
Wyllys, " with what was once thought so execrable — 
a sight of the Highlands." Doubtless, after the 
eight months' exacting service in Virginia with La- 
fayette, the Major appreciated the prospect of a win- 
ter's respite. But then he had returned with new 
"laurels." 





EVENTS IN 1782-83. 

Peace Negotiations — Military Affairs — Letters from Welles, Wyllys, and Silli- 
man — Tallmadge's Third Attempt on Long Island — The Major's Report 
and Washington's Reply — Letters from Sill and Humphreys — Evacuation 
of New York by the Enemy — Disbandment of the Revolutionary Army — 
Letter from Hull. 

After Yorktown the army and the country looked 
for peace. Negotiations were opened and continued 
through 1782, but military vigilance was in no way 
relaxed on that account. While no large operations 
were attempted on either side, Washington kept his 
troops at hand and in a high state of discipline ready 
to act in case hostilities were renewed. The winter 
had been passed in camps in New Jersey and the 
Highlands, and in the spring the army concentrated 
on the Hudson once more. The Connecticut Line 
had again hutted in its " Village " nearly opposite 
West Point, and by April had resumed drilling and 
parades. From that and other quarters we have a 
few letters during the year ; for instance, something 
more from Capt. Roger Welles to his father : 

"Conn" Hutts, April 13* 82. 
"... Yesterday the Conn" Troops were reviewed by the 
Commander-in-Chief when he was so particular as to cause every 
roll to be called by his Aid in his hearing, which circumstance 
was very pleasing to the soldiery, and served to excite a spirit of 
emulation among them. After which he made some observations 
which were very flattering to the officers of the line. 

141 



142 Yale in the Revolution. 

" The army have not rec"* any pay as yet, nor is there a prospect 
at present. There are some notes (sie;ned by the P. M. Gen'l, 
payable in August) come on for the officers to enable them to 
clothe themselves, which some have rec"* from mere necessity and 
put them off at a considerable discount ; the merchants will take 
them." 

Again a month later, May i8th : 

" For these ten days or more we have been flattering ourselves 
that peace was near at hand, but now begin to apprehend it so far 
distant that nothing short of a successful campaign will procure 
it for us. Sir Guy Carlton is arrived at N. York and succeeds 
Gen'l Clinton, who has sailed for England. By a flag from N. Y. 
Gen'l Washington has received a large packet in which were dis- 
patches for Congress. Nothing that looks like peace has yet 
transpired. Hope the dispatches contain something more favor- 
able. It seems there has been a great revolution at home, a great 
change in the ministry, and administration are willing to redress 
our grievances, and put us on the same footing we were in seven- 
ty-three. They pretend to think that the Americans are so at- 
tached to the British nation and so anxious for peace, that they 
will renounce their alliance with the Frence nation : — that we 
were contending with the former ministry, and not at war with 
the nation at large. I hope the States will exert themselves and 
get their quota of men early into the field — the only means to pro- 
cure peace on good terms. 

" There was last week some little disturbance in this part of the 
army, but it has all happily subsided. One of the principal pro- 
moters of it was yesterday executed at West Point — a soldier be- 
longing to the first Reg'." 

The outposts along theCroton River were as close- 
ly guarded as ever, and in the spring of this year the 
command was assigned to Major Wyllys. From the 
beginning of the war these posts, which were some- 
times nearer the enemy, had been under the charge 
of such trustworthy officers as Burr, Hull, Tallmadge 
and others, and were seldom surprised by the enemy's 



Events in iy82-8j. 143 

reconnoitering parties. Wyllys, now quite a veteran, 
was another good selection. 

He wrote occasionally while on duty. One of his 
official notes to Gen. Heath runs as follows : 

" Pine's Bridge, 28th May 1782. 

" Should it meet with your approbation, I could wish to make 
some movements on the other side of Croton-River, with that 
part of the command now with me — and to allow the party at 
Bedford to make some little excursions between the Lines. I 
cannot imagine it would injure the Service. — We have no intelli- 
gence of importance as yet come to hand, or late N. York papers 
— Cap'. Smith has just now sent me a Deserter, from the New 
Bridge whom I send on — 

" I am, Sir, 

" with the greatest respect 
" your most obedient & humble Serv', 
"Jn° p. Wyllys, 
" Maj' Comd^ on the Lines." ' 

Another to Col. Webb, June 3d : 

" I hope to find the Troops, when I return, ready to take the 
Field, as the herbage here is very luxuriant. The Duty here is 
now much easier than at first or rather is more natural — I have 
slept under cover no night since I have been at the post — We 
make use of Serg"' White's bed of honour on which ten thousand 
men might sleep without touching — however duty may be called 
hard — our men grow sick fast. A party of our volunteer horse 
which I had sent as a scout fell in with some refugees, five or 
six of whom they wounded & took one prisoner — that is all 
the military exploit in which I have, as yet, had any hand since 
the command commenced. I expect Gen' [Heath's] thanks for 
planning." 

The lookout along the Sound was also well kept, 
and the movements of the enemy's vessels reported. 

' From the Webb " Reminiscences." 



144 Yale in the Revobdioit. 

Gen. Silliman at Fairfield could be trusted to warn 
the towns along the coast of all suspicious craft, as he 
did early in June as follows : 

" Fairkield, June 4th, 1782, 
"7 P. M. 
" Sir: 

" There is a Fleet of the Enemy's Ships now in the Sound. They 
are twenty in number. They appeared at four this afternoon 
about 12 miles to the westward ; they are standing eastward in a 
regular Line, and are now opposite to my House with a fair but 
very light Breeze. A Frigate leads and another is in the Reer. 
The rest of the Fleet consists of Brigantines, Topsail Sloops & 
Schooners principally large. I am of opinion that they may have 
on Board with ease 1500 or 2000 Troops. They intend mischief 
somewhere. New Haven is as likely to be their object as any 
Place. I have thought it my duty to give you this notice by ex- 
press, that you may be on your Guard. 

" I have to entreat you to forward this Intelligence immediately 
to His Excellency at Hartford by express ; and also to New Lon- 
don & the other Towns on the Coast between that & New Haven; 
that they may not be surprised for want of Intelligence. 

" You will excuse this Letter coming open, as I have not time 
otherwise to give the Intelligence to Stratford & Milford. 

" I am Your Obed' 
" Humble Serv', 

" G. Selleck Silliman. ' 
"To 

" Col. Hez. Sabin, 

" New Haven." 

A Light Infantry corps consisting of two regi- 
ments was again organized for possible operations in the 
summer and fall, and placed under the command of 
Col. Samuel B. Webb. Among the few graduates 
assigned to it were Major Ashley, class of 1767, and 
Captain Welles, the latter for the third time on this 
service. No opportunity, however, was given the 

' From the original in the Trumbull Papers, Mass. Hist. Society. 



Events in iy82-8j. 145 

command to distinguish itself as in previous years. 
Captain Welles writing from the Light Camp at 
Peekskill, Nov. 9th, says : " We are now preparing to 
march to-morrow morning to relieve the Troops on 
the lines. The Block House at Dobbs Ferry is the 
Post to which I am destined. ... I propose making 
a visit among my friends soon after the Light In- 
fantry are dissolved, which may be in the course of six 
weeks or less." 

Toward the close of the year, Tallmadge made his 
third attempt on Long Island. The first two had 
been handsomely executed. On this occasion he 
sought Washington's permission to strike at the pro- 
vincial corps commanded by Col. Thompson, who 
afterwards became the somewhat famous Count 
Rumford. Washington granted permission, and pre- 
pared to make a demonstration at the same time in 
the direction of King's Bridge. The night of the 5th 
of December was fixed for the movement. But this 
time Tallmadge was to meet with disappointment, the 
cause of the failure appearing in his official report 
and in the following letter he wrote to Col. Colt, then 
with the French army at Providence : 

" North Street, Dec. nth, '82. 
" Dear Sir : 

" I have been so busily engaged on duty for some time, that I 
have scarcely had leisure to write a Line to my friends — 

"There is, at Huntington on Long Island Col. Thompsons Le- 
gion, the remainder of the Queens Rangers & Tarleton's Legion, 
amounting to about 500 men, whose abuses to the Inhabitants 
have induced me to ask consent of the Commander in Chief to 
break them up. — He has been good enough to gratify my request 
& with a picked body of Lt. Infantry from the army, a part of our 



146 Yale in the Revolution, 

Regt., some Levies & armed boatmen, amounting to above 500 
men, I moved to Stamford on the evening of the 5* Inst. 

" Just as the Troops, were about to embark on Shiphard Point, 
a very sudden squall come up from the West, which prevented 
our crossing. — This was followed by a heavy northwest wind, 
which continued several days — I tarried on the Point three 
nights with the whole Detachment, till I was convinced the Enemy 
might have been apprized of our situation, even by the way of 
Kingsbridge, when to my inexpressible mortification, I was 
obliged to give over the enterprise. 

*' Three of the Enemies boats were discovered on Norwalk Isl- 
ands at this time — I sent out some boats under Capt. Brewster, 
when with about even numbers a most severe conflict insued in 
which two of the enemies boats were taken by two of ours — 

" The notorious Capt Hoyt who commanded one of the enemies 
boats, had every one of his men either killed or taken — Six of 
the enemy were killed and i Capt. i Lt. & 13 men wounded & 
Prisoners — on our part, not a man was killed but Capt Brewster 
is badly wounded and several of his men — 

" I am still of the opinion that the British Troops are preparing 
to leave N. Y. & that we shall have the city in the spring. 

" The Garrison of Charlestown [S. C] has undoubtedly left that 
place & it is said some of the Troops have arrived at N. York. 

" Our Regt will move to Winter Quarters in a few days — when 
our cantonments are known, I will write you again. I am my 
•D' Sir 

" Most affectionately yours 

(Signed) Benj. Tallmadge. 

"Mr. Colt—'" 

The Major's chagrin at failure must have yielded 
to feelings of highest gratification upon reading the 
following letter from his Chief in reply to his report 
of the affair : 

"Head Quarters, Dec loth, 17S2. 
" Dear Sir : 

" I received your favour of the 8"" last Evening by Express. Tho' 
you have not met with that success you deserved, and probably 

' From the original in possession of .Frederick S. Tallmadge, Esq., N. Y. 
City, grandson of Major Tallmadge. 



Events in iy82-8j. 1^7 

would have obtained had the Enterprize proceeded, yet I cannot 
but think your whole conduct in the affair was such as ought to 
entitle you still more to my confidence and esteem — for however 
it may be the practice of the World and those who see objects 
but partially, or thro' a false medium, to consider that only as 
meritorious which is attended with success, I have accustomed 
myself to judge of human Actions very differently and to appre- 
ciate them by the manner in which they are conducted, more than 
by the Event ; which it is not in the power of human foresight 
and prudence to command — In this point of view, I see nothing 
irreparable, & little occasion of serious regret, except the wound 
of the gallant Captain Brewster, from which I earnestly hope he 
may recover — Another time you will have less opposition from 
the Winds & Weather, and success will amply compensate for this 
little disappointment. 

" I have almost determined to post you with the Infantry of the 
Legion contiguous to the Sound, in which case I shall expect you 
to persevere in your endeavours to keep me perfectly advised of 
the State of the Enemy — and perhaps some favourable moment 
may yet occur. 

" I am Dear Sir 
" With sincere regard & 
" esteem your Most Ob' Serv' 

" G° Washington. 
"P. S. 

" Your Letter of the 5"" 
with the enclosures were 
safely delivered to me. 

" Major Tallmadge." ' 

With the opening of the year 1783 hostiHties had 
practically ceased. Tallmadge was engaged in sup- 
pressing the illicit trade carried on across the Sound, 
and the main army, reduced in numbers, was kept 
prepared for emergencies ; but friends and foes alike 
regarded the war as over. 

' From the original in possession of Mrs. George T. Balch, Troy, N. Y., 
grandaughter of Major Tallmadge. Also in Sparks' Washington. 



148 Yale in the Revolution. 

Early in the year Gen. Stirling died at Albany. 
One of his aids was Major Richard Sill, class of 1775, 
who officially informed Washington of the event as 
follows : 

"Albany, January 14th, 1783. 
" Sir : 

" Major-General Lord Stirling took his leave of this world at 6 
o'clock this morning. Lady Stirling and Lady Caty are in the 
deepest distress. It would no doubt be more agreeable to his 
friends could he be intered with the honors due to his rank, but 
the distance of the Troops from this place will render it impos- 
sible to pay so small a tribute to his memory. A subaltern party, 
which has been stationed in Town as a Guard (being the only 
Troops in the City) will be ordered to attend on the occasion. It 
is not as yet determined on what day the funeral will be attended. 
Under the hope of Coll Duer's arrival it is probable it will be 
postponed a day or two. I have the honor to be, with the great- 
est esteem and Respect, 

" Your Excellency's 

" Most Obedient Servant, 

" Richard Sill. 
" His Excellency, General Washington. 

" P. S. — His Lordship's funeral is to be on Thursday, 
the i6th."' 

In April the treaty of peace was signed. During 
the summer the army, four regiments excepted, was 
disbanded ; on November 25th the enemy evacu- 
ated New York, and a detachment of our forces, 
led by the Light Infantry, under Col. Hull, occupied 
the city. There Washington bade farewell to his 
officers, and then went on to Congress, at Annapolis, 
to resign his commission. 

At the close of the year a regiment was organized 
to serve until July, 1784, of which Hull was the lieut- 

' From the original in the Archives of the State Department, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 



Events in iy82-8j. 149 

colonel, Charles Selden, class of 1777, adjutant, and 
Nathan Leavenworth, class of 1778, surgeon's mate. 
With its disbandment the old Army of the Revolu- 
tion, excepting an artillery company or two, disap- 
peared. 

The last letter bearing upon the war, and with 
which this portion of the graduate record closes, is 
the following from Col. Hull, who had been commis- 
sioned in 1784 to superintend the transfer of the 
northern posts into American hands, as provided by 
the treaty of peace. It is addressed to Gen. Haldi- 
mand, commanding the English forces in Canada, the 
original being in the Haldimand collection, British 
Museum, London : 

"Quebec, 12th July, 1784. 
'' Sir: 

" I am instructed to request of your Excellency, in Behalf of 
the United States of America, the precise Time when each of the 
Posts within their Territories, now occupied by his Britannic 
Majesty's Forces, will be delivered up agreeably to the definitive 
Treaty of Peace, and to propose, as a matter of mutual conven- 
ience, an Exchange of certain Cannon and stores now at the 
Posts to be Evacuated for Cannon and Stores to be delivered at 
West Point, New York, or some other convenient place. 

" With regard to the first Point, as the Season of the Year is al- 
ready far advanced, and as much Time will be required in fur- 
nishing necessary supplies for the Garrisons during the Winter, it 
is an object of very great Importance, and I must beg leave to be 
solicitous with your Excellency to fix a very early period. 

"As the Posts of the above description are numerous, and it 
being probable that it may not be convenient to withdraw the 
Troops from the whole exactly at the same time, I wish your Ex- 
cellency to be particular in fixing the precise period when each 
will be delivered up. 

" If your excellency approves the Proposal of exchanging the 
Cannon, Stores, &c., it will be necessary to fix on some criterion 



I50 



Yale in the Revolution. 



of their goodness. I would, therefore, propose that the particular 
negotiations be referred to two Artillery officers, one from each 
side, who shall personally inspect the Cannon and Stores, and in 
case of not agreeing, call in a third Person. 

" I Have the Honor to be your Excellency's 
" Most obed' Serv*, 

"Wm. Hull. 
" His Excellency General Haldimand." 




HUMPHREYS AND DWIGHT 

ON 

WASHINGTON. 



151 



^^^^^ 






5P^ 






^^J^g 


^^ 


^^^1 






^p 


^m 


^^^aVs 


^S 


^ 


^^^ 






K 


m 




^M^S3n^j;:.^va^".f' 


J 



WASHINGTON. 

Humphrey's Visit to Mt. Vernon in 1786 — Letter to his Brother — Is Urged 
to Write a History of the Revolution — Personal Items — The " Father of 
his Country" at Home — President Dwight's Eulogy on Washington — An 
Estimate of his Character — Personal Qualities, Public Conduct, Military 
Talents, and Place in History. 

After the war Col. Humphreys went abroad as at- 
tache to our Paris Legation, and upon his return, in 
1786, Washington sent him a cordial invitation to 
visit Mt. Vernon. Humphreys accepted, and after 
his arrival there wrote the following letter to his 
brother, at Derby, Conn., describing his journey and 
impressions, and indulging in personal, gossipy 
items, which add to its interest. It is also of value 
as giving us a glimpse of interior and farm life at 

Washington's home : 

"Mount Vernon, Aug., 4th, 1786. 
" My Dear Brother : 

" Tho' I hate writing abominably when I have nothing to say, or 
(what amounts to the same thing) nothing but what relates to 
myself, yet I will try for once to see what can be said on such an 
unimportant occasion & on such an unpromising theme. 

" My journey was more agreeable than could have been expected 
at such a sultry season. It was a fortunate circumstance that we 
had such plenty of rain as never to be incommoded by the dust. 
By setting off at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning we also eluded the 
intensity of the heat. The variety of character to be met with in 
the stages is truly amusing. I rested some days at the principal 
places on my route where I received uncommon marks of atten- 
tion. Indeed I have found by recent experience as well as by 
former travelling a great deal in the world, that a poet like a 
Prophet is not without honor except tn his own Cotmtry. 

153 



154 Yale in the Revohition. 

" Here I am domesticated in the family of the greatest of men. 
My reception was the most cordial that can possibly be conceived 
— my situation is such as would excite the envy of thousands. I 
believe I showed you a letter which Gen' Washington wrote to 
me while in Europe & which contained the following paragraph 
— ' The sentiment of your last letter on this subject (writing a 
history of the war) gave me great pleasure. I should indeed be 
pleased to see you undertake this business. Your abilities as a 
writer, your discernment respecting the principles which led to 
the decision by arms, your personal knowledge of many facts as 
they occured in the progress of the war, your disposition to justice, 
candor & impartiality, and your diligence in investigating truth — 
combining — fit you in the vigor of life for this task. And I shall 
with great pleasure not only give you the perusal of all my papers, 
but any oral information of circumstances which cannot be ob- 
tained from the latter that my memory will furnish. And I can 
with great truth add that my house would not only be at your 
service during the period of your preparing this work, but (and 
without an unmeaning compliment I say it) I should be exceed- 
ingly happy if you would make it your home. You might have 
an apartment to yourself in which you could command your own 
time. You would be considered & treated as one of the family, 
and would meet with that cordial reception and entertainment 
which are characteristic of the sincerest friendship.' 

" Here is a noble work before me, but deterred by the magnitude 
of the enterprise I have not yet had spirit enough to resolve upon 
its execution. Whatever I may decide for the moment, I shall 
not absolutely lose sight of the object. In the meantime, it af- 
fords me no unpleasant reflection to be convinced that the man 
in the United States who entertains the most favorable sentiments 
of my morals and abilities is precisely the greatest man in them. 
Nor is it derogatory to one's reputation to hold so high a place 
in the confidence & friendship of Gen' Washington. These are 
circumstances that would be flattering to the vanity of almost any 
man. For myself I feel a rational satisfaction that my honest 
endeavors to do my duty have met with success & merited his 
approbation. 

" It will no doubt be a matter of some curiosity to know in what 
manner my illustrious friend lives in his retirement. It is I as- 



Washington . 155 

sure you with much temperance as well as a great deal of exer- 
cise. He rises about 5 o'clock & passes a great part of his time 
in superintending his plantations ; you may judge how extensive 
they are when I tell you he has had about 800 acres of wheat & 
700 of corn this year. Besides this attention to the improvement 
of his estate he is a good deal occupied in opening the navigation 
of the Potomac, and in answering the letters of his numerous cor- 
respondents in Europe as well as in America. By a letter which 
he has just received from a foreigner of distinction in Paris I find 
that one of my Poems which was lately translated into French has 
been received with much applause, that the King and Queen hav- 
ing read it with great satisfaction, have testified their suffrage in 
favor of the author. 

" I propose being in New Haven at the Commencement and con- 
sequently shall set out from this so as to be with you early in Sept', 
and I have no objection to its being known by my friends who are 
freemen of your town, that I shall be on the spot and if they should 
think proper to appoint me one of their representatives I well serve 
them as such — indeed you may show this letter where you think 
you can do it with discretion and propriety. — Probably this 
journey to the Eastward may decide me whether I shall in future 
consider myself a citizen of my native State or not. I have sev- 
eral projects, some one of which I am confident will succeed. 

" By a letter which I received while in New York from our 
brother in Portsmouth, I had the pleasure to learn that his family 
are well. I hope to have the happiness of finding our venerable 
and good parents with the rest of my relations and friends at Derby 
in the same condition. In the meantime present me respectfully 
to them & believe me ever, My Dear Brother, 

" Yours affectionately 

" D. Humphreys. 
" John Humphreys, Esq. 

P. S. — Perhaps I shall not come on quite so soon as I had pro- 
posed, as there is an eminent painter in Philadelphia who is en- 
gaged in giving some historical paintings of the most remarkable 
events which took place during the war, and who has requested 
me to sit for him (on my return from the South) as he has occa- 
sion to introduce my figure into two great pieces he has now in 
hand, viz.: the first, the presentation of the standards taken at 



156 Yale in the Revohttion. 

Yorktown to Congress by your humble servant. The other, the 

resignation of Gen Washington. You see whatever 

of my own town may think of it, posterity are likely to have some 
information concerning me." * 

It seems appropriate to insert in this connection 
also an extract from the sermon delivered by Presi- 
dent Dwight at New Haven, Feb. 22, 1800, on the 
death of Washington, in the course of which he en- 
tered into an analysis of his character and qualities 
more discriminating and complete than any thing that 
has come down to us from those days. 

Its intrinsic and historical value must appear in 
the portions quoted. The text of the discourse was 
from Deuteronomy xxxiv., 10-12 : " And there arose 
not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses. . . ." 



" General Washington was great, not by means of that brilliancy 
of mind often termed genius, and usually coveted for ourselves 
and our children, and almost as usually attended with qualities 
which preclude wisdom, and depreciate or forbid worth, but by a 
constitutional character more happily formed. His mind was in- 
deed inventive, and full of resources ; but its energy appears to 
have been originally directed to that which is practical and use- 
ful, and not to that which is shewy and specious. His judgment 
was clear and intuitive beyond that of most who have lived, and 
seemed instinctively to discern the proper answer to the cele- 
brated Roman question : Cui bono erit? To this his incessant 
attention and unwearied observation, which nothing, whether 
great or minute, escaped, doubtless contributed in a high degree. 
What he observed he treasured up, and thus added daily to his 
stock of useful knowledge. Hence, although his early education 
was in a degree confined, his mind became possessed of extensive, 
various, and exact information. Perhaps there never was a mind 

' Original in possession of Mrs. William Humphreys (aged 94), of Ashtabula, 
Ohio, niece by marriage of Col. David Humphreys. 



Washington . 157 

on which theoretical speculations had less influence, and the de- 
cisions of common sense more. 

"At the same time no man ever more earnestly or uniformly 
sought advice, or regarded it when given, with more critical 
attention. . . . When any measure of importance was to be 
acted on, he delayed the formation of his judgment until the last 
moment ; that he might secure to himself, alway, the benefit of 
every hint, opinion, and circumstance which might contribute 
either to confirm, or change, his decision. Hence, probably in a 
great measure, arose, that he was so rarely committed; and that his 
decisions have so rarely produced regret, and have been so clearly 
justified both by their consequences and the judgment of man- 
kind. 

" With this preparation he formed a judgment finally and wholly 
his own ; and, although no man was ever more anxious before a 
measure was adopted, probably no man was ever less anxious 
afterward. He had done his duty, and left the issue to Provi- 
dence. 

" To all this conduct his high independence of mind greatly 
contributed. By this I intend a spirit which dares to do its duty 
against friends and enemies, and in prosperous and adverse cir- 
cumstances alike ; and which, when it has done its duty, is regard- 
less of opinions and consequences. 

" Nor was he less indebted to his peculiar firmness. He not 
only dared to act in this manner, but uniformly sustained the 
same tone of thought and feeling — such as he was at the decision, 
he ever afterward continued to be, and all men despaired of oper- 
ating on him unless through the medium of conviction. The 
same unchanging spirit supported him through every part of his 
astonishing trials during the war ; and exhibited him as exactly 
the same man after a defeat, as after a victory ; neither elated nor 
depressed, but always grave, serene, and prepared for the event. 

" From other great men he was distinguished by an exemption 
from favouritism. No man ever so engrossed his attachment, as 
to be safe for a moment from deserved reproof or censure ; nor 
was any man ever so disrelished by him, as, on that account, to 
fail of receiving from him whatever applause, or services, his merit 
could claim. Hence his friends feared, and his enemies respected 
him. 



158 Yale in the Revolution. 

" His moderation and self government were such that he was 
always in his own power, and never in the power of any other 
person. Whatever passions he felt, they rarely appeared. His 
conduct, opinions, and life wore unusually the character of mere 
intellect. . . . His justice was exact, but tempered with the 
utmost humanity which the occasion would suffer. His truth no 
sober man who knew him probably ever doubted. Watchful 
against his own exposures to error, he was rarely found erring ; 
jealous of doing injustice, if he has done injustice, it is yet, I be- 
lieve, unrecorded. 

" His reservedness has been at times censured. To me it ap- 
pears to have been an important and necessary characteristic of 
a person situated as he was. In familiar life a communicative 
disposition is generally pleasing, and often useful ; in his high 
stations it would have been dangerous. One unguarded or 
ambiguous expression might have produced evils, the remedy of 
which would have been beyond even his own power. No such 
expression is recorded of him. 

" His punctuality was extreme. He rose always with the dawn; 
he dined at a given minute ; he attended every appointment at 
the moment. Hence, his business, public and private, was al- 
ways done at the proper time, and always beforehand. 

" No person appears to have had a higher sense of decorum, 
and universal propriety. The eye, following his public and pri- 
vate life, traces an unexceptionable propriety, an exact decorum 
in every action, in every word, in his demeanor to men of every 
class, in his public communications, in his letters, and in his 
familiar conversation, from which bluntness, flattery, witticism, in- 
delicacy, negligence, passion, and overaction, were alike excluded. 

" From these things, happily combined, always seen, and seen 
always in their native light, without art or affectation, it arose 
that wherever he appeared, an instinctive awe and veneration at- 
tended him on the part of all men. Every man, however great in 
his own opinion, or in reality, shrunk in his presence, and became 
conscious of an inferiority which he never felt before. Whilst he 
encouraged every man, particularly every stranger, and peculiarly 
every diffident man, and raised him to self-possession, no sober 
person, however secure he might think himself of his esteem, 
ever presumed to draw too near him. 



Washington. 159 

" With respect to his religious character, there have been differ- 
ent opinions. No one will be surprised at this who reflects that 
this is a subject about which, in all circumstances not involving 
inspired testimony, doubts may and will exist. The evidence con- 
cerning it must, of course, arise from an induction of particulars. 
Some will induce more of these particulars, and others fewer ; 
some will rest on one class or collection, others on another ; and 
some will give more, and others less, weight to those which are 
induced, according to their several modes and standards of jud- 
ging. The question in this and all other cases must be finally de- 
termined before another tribunal than that of human judgment ; 
and to that tribunal it must ultimately be left. For my own part, 
I have considered his numerous and uniform public and most 
solemn declarations of his high veneration for religion, his exem- 
plary and edifying attention to public worship, and his constancy 
in secret devotion, as proofs, sufficient to satisfy every person will- 
ing to be satisfied. I shall only add that if he was not a Chris- 
tian, he was more like one, than any man of the same description, 
whose life has been hitherto recorded. 

" As a warrior, his merit has, I believe, been fully and readily 
acknowledged ; yet I have doubted whether it has always been 
justly estimated. His military greatness lay not principally in 
desperate sallies of courage ; in the daring and brilliant exploits 
of a partisan. These would have ill suited his station, and most 
probably have ruined his cause and country. It consisted in the 
formation of extensive and masterly plans ; effectual preparations, 
the cautious prevention of great evils, and the watchful seizure of 
every advantage ; in combining heterogeneous materials into one 
military body, producing a system of military and political meas- 
ures, concentering universal confidence, and diffusing an in- 
fluence next to magical ; in comprehending a great scheme of 
war, pursuing a regular system of acquiring strength for his 
country, and wearing out the strength of his enemies. To his 
conduct, both military and political, may, with exact propriety, 
be applied the observation, which has been often made concern- 
ing his courage : that in the most hazardous situations no man 
ever saw his countenance change. 

" Perhaps I shall be thought to have dwelt too long and too 
minutely on his character. I hope I shall be justified, partially at 



i6o Yale in the Revolution. 

least, when it is remembered that I have been seizing the best op- 
portunity, which I shall ever enjoy, of teaching, in the most affect- 
ing manner in my power, the youths committed to my instruction, 
and forming a part of this audience, the way to become great, re- 
spectable, and useful. 

"Such, my friends and fellow citizens, was the man whose 
death we are assembled to lament, and whose worth we com- 
memorate. Like the illustrious subject of my text, he stands 
alone in his nation. Like him, he was great in the splendor of 
designation, in wisdom, in effort, in success, in the importance of 
his talents, virtues and labours, to the nation oyer whom he pre- 
sided in war and peace ; in the estimation, the love, and the tears 
of his country. ... To Americans his name will be ever 
dear — a savour of sweet incense descending to every succeeding 
generation." 

This eulogy was delivered at the " Brick Meeting 
House," on the green, at the request of the citizens of 
New Haven, and afterwards printed. It is now a 
rare pamphlet. Dr. Dwight had not only met Wash- 
ington in the field during the Revolution, but pos- 
sessed every means of forming a correct judgment of 
him. Among others, Humphreys, his intimate friend, 
could tell him much, and in his notes to the discourse 
Dwight states that he was indebted to Tallmadge 
for interesting facts. In the extracts given we may 
see Washington as known to the most observing of 
his contemporaries. One cannot but be impressed 
with the fidelity of the portrait. 



'^<^^^^Sy^ 



MAJORS WYLLYS AND HEART. 

1785-1791. 



161 



MAJORS WYLLYS AND HEART. 

In the Regular Army — Wyllys, Senior Major — Stationed in the Ohio Country 
— Recommended for a Colonelcy — Letter from Harmar — First Indian 
War — Harmar's Defeat, and Death of Wyllys — Letters — Heart Promoted 
Major of the Second Regiment — St. Clair's Defeat, and Death of Heart. 

While this record properly ends with the close of 
the Revolutionary War, it would seem to be incom- 
plete in the case of two of the graduates, who, after 
giving eight years to the cause of independence, soon 
re-entered the service of the country. They did much 
in the Revolution ; but were to do as much in after 
years, until each in similar situations fell heroically in 
the line of duty. These officers were John Palsgrave 
Wyllys and Jonathan Heart. 

In the present connection their names revive an in- 
teresting, though somewhat unfamiliar, piece of his- 
tory. Our success in the Revolution gave us a west- 
ern frontier, which Congress was at once called upon 
to protect, and in April, 1785, a regiment of seven 
hundred men was raised to take post in the Ohio 
country, where families from the Atlantic States were 
beginning to settle. The new regiment was com- 
manded by Lieut.-Col. Josiah Harmar, of Pennsylva- 
nia, and its two majors were to be apppointed from 
New York and Connecticut. Wyllys received the 
appointment from the latter State, and one of its two 
companies was given to Capt. Heart. Both these 
graduates, it will be recalled, were Light Infantry 

163 



1 64 Yale in the Revolution. 

officers with Lafayette in his Virginia campaign, and 
at the siege of Yorktown. What motive took 
them again into the service does not clearly appear. 
Wyllys was now an experienced and accomplished 
officer, and would have been a natural selection for 
any responsible post. Heart seems to have gone by 
preference to assist in surveying and defending a sec- 
tion of the country where some of his friends and 
former comrades were expecting to settle. His let- 
ters, written from Ohio, show him enthusiastic in his 
new duties. 

From 1786 to 1790 Harmar's command, which was 
originally known as the First American Regiment, 
or the first of our present regular army, was scat- 
tered at various posts along the Ohio and in the ter- 
ritory beyond. Headquarters were originally fixed 
at Pittsburg, with companies stationed at Fort Wash- 
ington (now Cincinnati), at Vincennes, at Venango, 
at points on the Miami, and elsewhere.' These years 
were spent in exploring the country, guarding routes 
of travel, and in efforts to keep peace with the red 
man. Beyond this there is little to record. Wyllys, 
who was senior major, is mentioned by Heart in 
1786 as having gone to take command on the Miami, 
and Major Beatty, Paymaster of the Western Army, 
makes the entry in his journal for June 15th of that 
year, that " Major Wyllys, in a barge, set off for 
Muskingham. The officers accompanied him 5 or 

'As to the position of the command at one time, Capt. Heart wrote from 
French Creek, on Oct. 14, 1787, as follows : " All is peace and quiet here, 
though continued accounts of murders, &c., down the river. No accounts 
from the Wabash country, where headquarters are at present. An extent of 
1350 miles is not a short line for one Regt. to occupy. That is the distance 
from this post to post Vincent." 



Majors Wyllys and Heart. 165 

6 miles up the river, and regretted parting with so 
good an officer and agreeable companion." How 
highly he was thought of appears also in the follow- 
ing extract from a letter written by Col. Harmar to 
Gov. Huntington of Connecticut, dated " Headquar- 
ters, Fort Washington, March 2, 1790": 

" It is more than probable that an augmentation of the regular 
troops will take place (indeed I believe the measure will be found 
absolutely necessary), in which case suffer me to mention Major 
Wyllys as a very honest, brave, deserving officer, and in every 
point of view adequate to the command of a regiment. I am in- 
duced to offer this recommendation, not from any solicitation of 
the major's, but as he is now absent in the Illinois country, and 
there may be some candidates at home who are upon the courtier 
establishment, I cannot refrain (from the esteem I have of his 
character) expressing my wishes to your Excellency upon this 
occasion." ' 

Captain Heart during this time had the opportunity 
of seeing much of the country, and he frequently 
wrote to his friend. Major William Judd, of Farming- 
ton, class of 1763, in regard to its resources and 
prospects. One of his letters contains his views as 
to the best manner of settling the new territory, and 
in another he praises the policy of treating the Indi- 
ans in a strictly friendly and honorable way. 

In 1 787 he was directed to build a work at Venango, 
Pa., afterwards known as Fort Franklin, '* in order 
to check the Northern Indians on the Frontiers of 
Pennsylvania by way of the Allegany River." ^ " The 

^ Appendix to Maj. Denny's Journal, Penn. Historical Society Publications. 

- " Fort Franklin on French Creek, near to the post formerly called Venango, 
is a small strong fort with one cannon, erected in 1787, and garrisoned with 
one company. The excellent construction and execution of this work reflects 
honor on the abilities and industry of Captain Hart, who garrisons it with his 
company, and who was his own engineer." — Report of Com. on State of the 
War Dept., 1788. 



1 66 Yale in the Revolution, 

United States," wrote Col. Harmar to Heart, "are 
greatly embarrassed in their Finances and wish to 
avoid as much as possible an Indian War ; nothing but 
unprovoked aggression on the part of the Savages on 
the troops or legal settlers should be an inducement 
to commence hostilities. ... I make not the least 
doubt that you are sufficiently impressed with the im- 
portance of this command." 

Indian troubles, however, increased, and in 1790 it 
became necessary to march against the Miami and 
Wabash tribes with all the force that could then be 
mustered. Gen. Harmar led the expedition. Leav- 
ing Fort Washington, Sept. 30, 1790, with three 
hundred and twenty regulars under Majors Wyllys 
and Doughty, and an undisciplined body of about 
eleven hundred Pennsylvania and Kentucky militia- 
men under Col. Hardin, he marched northward and 
on Oct. 17th reached the principal Indian settlements, 
in the vicinity of present Fort Wayne, Ind. Here 
he destroyed several villages including the Shawnee 
town of " Chillakothe." The Indians nevertheless 
succeeded, on the 19th, in totally defeating a detach- 
ment sent out under Hardin to ascertain their where- 
abouts. 

As the command had effected one of its main 
objects in burning the villages, it took up the return 
march on the 21st and proceeded eight miles. At this 
camp Harmar halted and sent back another detach- 
ment to waylay and defeat the Indians, who, elated 
with their surprise of Hardin, would doubtless follow 
and seriously harass the main body. Three hundred 
and sixty picked men, sixty of them regulars, were 



Majors Wyllys and Heart. 167 

accordingly detailed for the purpose, and Major Wyl- 
lys placed in command. Col. Hardin, anxious to re- 
trieve the disgrace of the 19th, accompanied the de- 
tachment as leader of the militiamen. Late at night 
on the 2ist, Wyllys marched out of camp, and crossing 
the St. Joseph River at the site of Fort Wayne, pre- 
pared to surprise the Indians who were supposed to 
have returned to their burned villages. He divided 
his force into three parties with instructions to con- 
verge at the point of attack. Major Hall on the 
left was to make a detour to the rear of the savages, 
Major McMillan took the right, while the regulars 
under Wyllys, with an improvised company of troop- 
ers under Major Fontaine, formed the centre. They 
had proceeded but a short distance when the militia- 
men on the right and left, discovering a few Indians 
in their front, pursued them, contrary to Wyllys' 
orders, far in advance of the centre company. A 
large body of Indians noticing this suddenly fell 
upon the unsupported Wyllys and opened a destruc- 
tive fire. The regulars bravely standing their ground 
were in a moment engaged in a terribly close en- 
counter. Fifty out of the sixty fell dead upon the 
field. Among them was Wyllys. Mortally wounded 
he asked to be helped upon his horse to give the 
enemy a last charge, but with men falling about 
him this could not be done. He died with his 
comrades, sealing his career as the first of the long 
line of regular army officers whose lives have been 
sacrificed in warfare on the frontier. His remains 
were afterwards buried, with eight or ten others, 
in a trench on the banks of the Maumee at Fort 



1 68 Yale in the Revolution, 

Wayne.' Capt. Heart, though not engaged in this 
affair, was in the expedition, and in two letters to 
Major Judd, gives us some idea of its severity. On 
Nov. 4th, he writes from Fort Washington : 

" We yesterday returned from the expedition against the Miami 
Villages, that nest of murderers, which we have entirely de- 
stroyed. I suppose the history of New England, that seat of In- 
dian wars, scarcely affords an instance of such another bloody 
action. They fought with desperation. Our loss was great, and 
amongst the killed we have to drop a tear to the memory of those 
good men, Maj. Wyllys and L' Frothingham, I have not time to 
enter into particulars." 

The second letter, giving "particulars," and dated 
" Fort Harmar, Dec. 3, 1790," is in part as follows : 

" Our troops were formed in three columns, Maj"" McMullen, 
with a battallion of malitia on the right, Maj' Hall on the left, 
and Maj' Wyllys, with the regular troops and a company of horse, 
in the center. Very soon after crossing the Miami they lost the 
disposition. Maj' Hall, with a party of his men, pursued the few 
scattering Indians, and had got two miles in front. Maj' McMul- 
len had gone more to the right. The commanding officer of the 
horse, with the fury of a madman, charged the Indians without a 
single man following him. He fell, and the horse were scattered 
in confusion. Maj' Wyllys, still moving on, the Indians in a 
large body came round upon his rear from the right, attacked 
his party with irresistible impetuosity ; numbers fell the first dis- 
charge ; the remainder, overpowered by numbers, and no assist- 
ance, were compelled to retreat across the main branch of the 
Miami, about one quarter of a mile from the place where the ac- 
tion commenced. During this the slaughter was great on both 
sides. By this time a party of Maj. Hall's command and some 
horse had collected on the opposite shore, and gave the Indians 
a very warm reception ; but, being very numerous, our men scat- 
tered. They crossed in different places. Our parties retreated, 

' Brice's "History of Ft. Wayne, Ind.," 1868, in which he says that Wyllys was 
buried "some twenty rods below the residence of J. J. Comparet, Esq.," p. 
129, n. 



Majors Wyllys and Heart. 169 

except Maj. McMullen, who, having moved on for some distance, 
and not hearing of the other columns, returned to the French vil- 
lage, and waiting there some time after the retreat of the others, 
returned to camp with very little loss. Our loss was a Maj', 
Lieut, and about 70 men in both actions ; the malitia lost some- 
thing more. The loss of the Indians cannot be exactly ascer- 
tained. From the most accurate calculations it is estimated at 
120 of their warriors. The general opinion of those late on the 
field of action is that the number was much greater. 

" The testimony of more than one militia man declares that a 
regular soldier on the retreat near the St. Joseph river, being sur- 
rounded and in the midst of the Indians, put his bayonet through 
six Indians, knocked down the seventh, and the soldier himself 
made the eighth dead man in the heap. There were many in- 
stances in which while the Indian was giving the fatal blow with 
his tomahawk, he fell by the bayonet, and he who pushed the 
bayonet fell by the tomahawk in his turn. We returned to head- 
quarters without a single shot being fired afterwards, and though 
we have every reason to lament the death of Maj'. Wyllys, L' 
Frothingham and many other brave men, we may say the expedi- 
tion, under every consideration, has been as successful as we 
could expect, and we have every reason to believe, had we not 
sent back the detachment, more of our men would have been 
killed by their harassing us on the return than fell in the action." ' 

The death of Wyllys was greatly regretted. In 
his general orders and official report to the War De- 
partment, Gen. Harmar refers to him as a gallant 
officer, who "united the talents of a cultivated mind 
with the best virtues of the heart," and whose " long 
and meritorious services claim the grateful remem- 
brance of his country." The New York and Con- 
necticut Cincinnati societies resolved to wear badges 
of mourning in his memory, while some sympathetic 
friend published a tribute to the Major's worth in 

* From papers in possesssion of the Western Reserve Historical Society, 
Cleveland, Ohio. 



I -JO Yale in the Revolution. 

the following lines. The scene is laid by mistake 
on the " encrimsoned " Wabash : 

" There, if e'er chance the traveller shall lead, 
The blood-drenched shore with rev'rence let him tread, 
And mark the spot where oft, at eve unseen. 
The weeping Genii plant the laurel green, 
And Fancy bids her choicest flow'rets rise. 
To deck the lonely grave where Wyllys lies. 

Hi Tv TT ^ TT TT ^ 

" From England's gentlest blood, an honored name, 
In virtues, arts, and arms, long known to fame, 
He sprung :— Where Hartford crowns with spiry pride 
Her high romantic banks and crystal tide, 
His infant sports and happier hours were led, 
Till Yale's fair laurels graced his youthful head. 
What time the Briton, to our guiltless shore. 
In proud array his thund'ring legions bore. 
When erst Columbia's starry flag unfurl'd 
Show'd a new eagle to the wond'ring world. 
The gallant youth appear'd at freedom's shrine. 
Drew his yet unstain'd steel, and joined the embattled line ; 
There in long toils and dangers tried, he won 
Th' approving smiles of god-like Washington. 
****** 

" The patriot bands, reliev'd from martial toil. 
Return and court the long-neglected soil : 
Severer cares his warrior arms engage — 
To guard the western realm and quell barbarian rage. 
And lo ! on wild Miami's dusky plain. 
O'er slaughter'd heaps he leads his victor train ; 
There as the foe in trembling haste retires. 
In glory's arms the hapless chief expires." ' 

' " Lines on Major Wyllys, of the Federal Troops, who fell in a late en- 
gagement with the Savages at the river St. Joseph, in the Western Territory of 
the U. States. By a Friend." Printed in Gazette of the United States, Feb. g, 
1791. 



Majors Wyllys and Heart. 171 

For Wyllys, his old companion-in-arms and fellow- 
graduate, Jonathan Heart had a "tear" to shed, lit- 
tle foreboding the parallel fate which was soon to 
overtake himself. 

In the following year occurred St. Clair's great de- 
feat. Harmar's expedition having failed in the sup- 
pression of Indian savages. Congress authorized a 
second attempt with a larger force. Another United 
States Regiment — the Second Infantry — was organ- 
ized, and Captain Heart promoted from the First to 
be one of its majors. The expedition left Fort Wash- 
ington in October, 1791, and on November 3d en- 
camped on the left bank of the Wabash, where the 
town of Ft. Recovery, Mercer Co., Ohio, now stands. 
At sunrise on the 4th, the camp was suddenly at- 
tacked by a strong and determined body of Indians. 
A desperate fight ensued. Many old, experienced 
officers of the Revolutionary army were in St. Clair's 
force, and through their exertions and example the 
troops were kept from retreating in a panic. The 
deadly fire of the enemy, however, rapidly thinned 
their ranks, and the day ended with a defeat more 
disastrous than Braddock suffered in the French and 
Indian War. The Second Regiment was the only 
body of regulars on the ground, excepting the Artil- 
lery, and it was twice called upon to charge the 
enemy and drive them from positions where they 
commanded almost every part of the camp. Major 
Heart, who had been conspicuous for his bravery 
throughout the engagement, led the second charge 
with skill and success for the moment, but the effort, 
in the absence of sufficient support, proved unavail- 



172 Yale in the Revolutio7t. 

ing as well as terribly fatal. Heart and all but three 
of the ofificers of the regiment were killed. Panic 
and retreat closed the day's disaster. 

The commanding officer of the Second Infantry, 
Lieut.-Col. Darke, was sufficiently brave but without 
military experience, and according to Col. Winthrop 
Sargent, St. Clair's Adjutant-General, who was active 
and observant throughout the engagement, the regi- 
ment was in reality in the hands of Major Heart. In 
his journal of the expedition, speaking of the last 
charge, Winthrop says : "In the execution of the 
command to the Second Regiment, which was per- 
formed with great order and spirit, the whole merit 
is due to Heart and his own officers, for the Colonel 
only went along with them, after the exertion for 
their formation under a heavy and galling fire from 
the enemy was over. . . . The Major's conduct 
through the day was soldierly beyond my expecta- 
tions." 

Heart was something more than the soldier. He 
interested himself in the survey of lands for new set- 
tlers, and was consulted by Gen. Parsons in negotiat- 
ing for the purchase of the Western Reserve, the out- 
lines of which he agreed to lay down. The Ohio 
mounds and Indian ethnology also interested him, as 
we know from his letters, one or more of which were 
published in the " Transactions of the American 
Philosophical Society." The naturalist, Dr. Benj. S. 
Barton, speaks of him in the same publication as 
" My much lamented friend. Major Jonathan Heart" ; 
and, as in the case of Wyllys, some " friend and class- 
mate " remembered him with a tribute in poetry 



Majors Wyllys and Heart. 173 

which appeared in the Hartford Courant for Jan. 2, 
1 792, as follows : 

" Could all that nature boasts protect the life, 
My friend had yet survived — his soul was great, 
In friendship true — there softer passions dwelt. 
A child of Science born, with patriot's mind 
That caught the martial flame, by heaven blest, 
To save a bleeding land. Pleasant in life ; 
How brave in death ? thy country mourns the loss. 
From State to State, the moving tale is told — 
Hart is no more. With wreaths of heaven crown'd, 
His shade arose from the embattled plain. 
Where carnage strow'd the ground. Let dew nor rain 
No more descend, where flow'd the crimson stream ; 
Let angels guard the dust. — Sleep, Hero, sleep ; 
Tho' flesh dissolves, thy fame immortal lives." 




ROLL OF HONOR, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



175 



NOTE ON AUTHORITIES. 

In preparing the following biographical sketches, the writer has confined 
himself mainly to the Revolutionary career of the graduates. Otherwise, beyond 
their identification and the insertion of such items as have been readily access- 
ible, not much has been attempted. 

The principal data — appointments, promotions, and military services gener- 
ally — have been obtained largely from manuscript records, there being compar- 
atively little in print containing such details. The following are among the 
records consulted : 

I. — At Washington. — The original rolls of the Conn. Continental Line in 
the Pension Office. Papers and maps in the Library of Congress. Memoranda 
from the Department of State. 2. — The "Trumbull" and " Heath" papers 
in the Mass. Historical Society, Boston. Sparks' Collection, Harvard Univer- 
sity Library. 3. — Rolls and papers in the State Library, Hartford, including 
the Acts of the Council of Safety in the Controller's office, of which Hinman 
published about one half. The records of the Cincinnati Society and the 
Wolcott Papers in the Conn. Historical Society. 4. — The " Gates," "Steuben," 
and other papers in the N. Y. Historical Society. The " Tomlinson " collec- 
tion. Mercantile Library, N. Y. 5. — Thirty or more order-books relating to 
the Connecticut troops in the hands of the descendants of Col. Grosvenor, Col. 
Bradley, Adj. Benjamin, and others, as well as order-books in various historical 
societies. 6. — Numerous letters and documents in the hands of private individ- 
uals, such as the " Webb " MSS., in possession of Gen. Alex. S. Webb, LL.D., 
N. Y. City ; the "Livingston " collection, owned by S. L. M. Barlow, Esq., 
N. Y. ; Gen. Silliman's papers, referred to in the text ; Mr. Leffingwell's, in 
New Haven ; Mr. Matthew Griswold's, Erie, Pa. ; etc., etc. 7. — Pres. Stiles' 
Diary, Yale Library. Extracts from Major Heart's letters, Cleveland ; Gen. 
Rufus Putnam's papers, Marietta College, Ohio. 

The fac-simile autographs, with a few exceptions, are reproductions of originals 
found in letters, returns, and various papers of the Revolutionary period. 



176 



ROLL OF HONOR 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

1775-1783. 



Class of 1724. 



Joshua Babcock, 



Major-General, Rhode Islaiid Militia. 



Although Dr. Babcock, as he was professionally known, was 
never actively engaged in the field during the Revolution, he 
stands with propriety at the head of this list, not only as being 
the earliest graduate who held a commission for service, but also 
as representing that class of elderly citizens, including many col- 
lege men, who by personal effort and sacrifices at home contrib- 
uted materially to the final success. 

He lived at Westerly, R. I., a town in which his grand-parents 
were among the first settlers, and where he was born, May 17, 
1707. Becoming both a physician and a merchant he acquired 
large wealth, and by taking part in public affairs made his name 
well known throughout the colony. His friend President Stiles 
states that he " loved to be acquainted with all gentlemen of note 
in the religious, political, and learned world, and entertained 
them with a cheerful joy and pleasure at his house, where 
they were ever welcome." Among such acquaintances was 
Benjamin Franklin, who visited at the doctor's home on his trips 
to Boston. 

Dr. Babcock was a man of public note both before and during 
the Revolution. He served as a Deputy in the Rhode Island 

177 



178 Yale in the Revohttion. 

Assembly for ten or more sessions between 1740 and 1778, and 
sat three times as Justice — twice as Chief Justice — of the Supreme 
Court of the Colony prior to 1765. In the controversy with the 
mother country he Avas outspoken in favor of American liberties, 
and endorsed all war measures. When Boston was in distress in 
the fall of 1774, he contributed one hundred dollars to its relief. 
He assisted in the purchase of arms and payment of bounties 
to the soldiers, and is said to have advanced considerable sums of 
money to the State on the public credit. Among his accounts 
with the State treasurer, December, 1777, is a bill of ;^2oo "for 
guns, bayonets, and cartouch boxes furnished by him for the use 
of the town of Westerly." 

In the important Assembly session of May, 1775, the doctor 
appears to have taken a leading part, as he was delegated to carry 
the resolution, authorizing the enlistment of an army of observa- 
tion in Rhode Island, to the Connecticut Assembly, and request 
that body to transmit in return its " proceedings and transactions 
relative to the present alarming crisis of affairs." In September 
following he visited the American camp around Boston, where 
his half-brother, James Babcock, of the class of 1752, was a 
Rhode Island officer, and where his son, Col. Henry Babcock, of 
the same class, who had served in the French and Indian War, 
was then, or was soon to be, present as a volunteer. On this oc- 
casion he was bearer of an official communication from Gov. 
Cooke, of Rhode Island, to head-quarters at Cambridge, in which 
he Avas introduced as follows to Washington : " This letter waits 
on you by Joshua Babcock, Esq. He is a gentleman of a genteel 
fortune, a member of our General Assembly, and hath highly dis- 
tinguished himself in the glorious cause in which America is em- 
barked." 

In May, 1776, Dr. Babcock was elected by the Assembly, 
Major-General of the " Colony's Brigade," which consisted of ten 
regiments for the defence of Rhode Island, and in October of the 
same year the appointment was renewed. As the doctor was 
then in his seventieth year, this appointment may have been re- 
garded as complimentary, but it was nevertheless a military com- 
mission involving responsibility and exercise of good judgment. 
He certainly was active. In the early part of September, while 
holding this commission, he was appointed one of a committee of 



Roll of Honor. 179 

three to proceed to New York and consult with Washington re- 
specting the defence of Rhode Island. The committee reached 
the city on the 13th, put up at Gen. Putnam's quarters, No. i 
Broadway, and on the 14th discussed the situation with the Com- 
mander-in-Chief and other ofificers. Dr. Babcock reported the 
interview by letter to Gov. Cooke (in MS. R. I. State Archives, 
also in Force), in which he also gave some interesting facts re- 
specting the abandonment of New York on the 15th. He wit- 
nessed our hurried retreat on that day. 

When the enemy took Newport, in December, 1776, the doctor 
was made a member of the State Council of War, and thus for the 
time being was quite a military character. Under date of Dec. 
31st, he wrote to Silas Deane, in Congress at Philadelphia : " Our 
small but, in the cause of liberty, loyal colony, approachable by 
vessels of war by its extent of sea coasts, within twenty miles of 
any port, have now enlisted, and are spiritedly enlisting above 
half its militia, and one-fourth the remainder on the Alarm List, 
bound to hold themselves in readiness for action on an emergence 
as Minute-men. . . . We are making saltpetre everywhere, and 
hope, if not from abroad, to be internally supplied with Powder 
soon. In nowise do we despair ; for as Providence has signally 
smiled on our attempts, we hope from the justice of our cause the 
issue will be crowned with success." He continued on the Coun- 
cil of War in 1777 and 1778, and during the two years following 
sat in the House of Assistants. His death occurred at the close 
of the Revolution, when peace was assured, April i, 1783. A bio- 
graphical sketch of Dr. Babcock appears in Updike's " History of 
the Narragansett Church," from the pen of Dr. Levi Wharton, 
who knew him well, and who says, among other things : " The 
Doctor was a zealous and enlightened patriot, and as liberally 
devoted his time and money to the cause, both in a public 
and private capacity, as a statesman or a citizen, as any of his 
compatriots." 




i8o Yale ill the Revolution. 

Class ^/ 1 72 5 . 



GuRDON Saltonstall, 

Brigadier-General , Connecticut Militia. 

Gen. Saltonstall was the oldest graduate who at any time dur- 
ing the contest served in the immediate vicinity of the enemy ; and 
in his case the term was necessarily brief, his duties with the home 
militia on the sea-board, as well as his somewhat advanced age, 
preventing any lengthened stay in the field. His principal service 
was rendered within his own State. 

The General was a son of the Rev. and Hon. Gurdon Saltonstall, 
tenth Governor of Connecticut, and was born at New London, the 
residence of the family, Dec. 22, 1708. Inheriting and acquiring 
social position and influence, he also long held public office. For 
thirty-four years before his death he was Judge of Probate ; from 
1744 to 1757, either member of the Assembly, or of the House of 
Assistants ; from 1739, Colonel of the Third Regiment of Connecti- 
cut Militia. On Sept. 6, 1777 — the date being so given in one of 
his MS. letters — he was appointed by Gov. Trumbull Collector of 
the Port of New London, and held the office for several years. 

The revolutionary troubles found Saltonstall, in Trumbull's 
words, " a steady and warm friend to the States of America." In 
June, 1774, he appears on the town Committee of Correspondence, 
and on Sept. 8th following he presided over a convention of dele- 
gates from the two counties of New London and Windham, con- 
vened at Norwich. On March 30, 1775, he wrote to Silas Deane: 
" Its evident no more troops are at present destined for America ; 
however, we must by no means relax our utmost preparations to 
be ready if called to defend by the sword " ; and again : " Let 
us lie down and rise up with a fixed determination to maintain 
Liberty for ourselves and posterity." April 25th, after the Lex- 
ington alarm, he writes : " A volunteer Town Watch of seventy 
and upwards this day enlisted to watch six months without re- 
ward, save the virtue of doing so ; all my sons are on y*" roll. Is 
it not best to dispatch a vessel to W. Indies for more powder ? " 
He was decidedly of the opinion that the colonies ought to raise 
a force of a hundred thousand men at once as their reply to min- 
isterial attempt at coercion. 



Roll of Honor. i8i 

When the war opened he became busily engaged, with oth- 
ers, with plans and preparations for the defence of New Lon- 
don harbor. The Assembly appointed him in May, 1775, one of 
a committee to report upon the necessary fortifications, and by 
November following the " old battery " near the town was rebuilt 
under his own supervision. He had something to say respecting 
the site of the new works, which were afterwards named Forts 
Trumbull and Griswold, although their construction was left to 
engineers. Under the authority of the Assembly, Col. Saltonstall 
also established a line of alarm stations and post-riders east and 
west along the Sound, connecting with other lines, and through 
them reported all occurrences to the governor. Several of his 
letters, describing the movements of the enemy's vessels in the 
summer of 1775, are published in the Deane correspondence 
(Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II.), in Force's archives, and in the 
MS. Trumbull papers. Among the latter papers, for instance, is 
to be found his first report of their manoeuvres off Stonington, be- 
ginning as follows : " N. London. Aug' 30, 1775. — Hon*"'^ Sir: 
This morning early cannon was fired in the eastern board, &: have 
continued firing ever since, & in the last hour about 40. We had 
advice at 12 C that 2 men of Warr & a tender were firing on the 
Houses at the Point in Stonington, without provocation, unless 
it was that the people had bro' stock (a small mater) from Block 
Island," <&rc. 

After the battle of Long Island, August, 1776, Washington 
called for re-enforcements, and Connecticut sent nine militia 
regiments from the eastern end of the State. Of this temporary 
force Col. Saltonstall was appointed Brigadier-General by the 
Governor and Council September 10, 1776, and three or four days 
later he set out for the army with his son Gilbert as Brigade- 
Major. Arriving at Westchester several of his regiments were 
distributed, by Washington's orders, at and near Kings Bridge 
and one guarded points on the Sound. On September 30th the 
General was directed to encamp Avith his four remaining regi- 
ments on Fordham Heights on the east side of the Harlem, oppo- 
site the Morris Mansion, where he was posted until the army 
moved to White Plains three weeks later. Whether he was pres- 
ent at the battle October 28th does not appear. Returning to 
Connecticut, the Assembly appointed him, in December follow- 



1 82 Yale in the Revohttion. 

ing, Brigadier-General of the Third Brigade of Militia, and with 
this rank he resumed his duties at New London, guarding the 
eastern coast of the State. When the enemy set fire to the town 
in September, 1781, Gen. Saltonstall's "house, two stores, shop, 
and barn " were destroyed. Two of his sons also suffered 
heavily. In April, 1782, the General, with other citizens, signed 
an address to be submitted to the Assembly, calling for discip- 
lined, permanent garrisons for the New London forts as their 
only protection in the future, the absence of such being given as 
the reason of the disaster in the previous year. This is about the 
last time his name appears on any military document of the war. 
He survived the peace two years — his death occurring at Nor- 
wich, while he was visiting there, September 19, 1785. 




^/pc.^^fzf>tir^ 




Class of 1733. 



Benjamin Pomeroy, D.D., 

Cliaplain, Connecticut. 

Rev, Dr. Pomeroy is identified with Hebron, Conn., where he 
was pastor for nearly fifty years. He served as chaplain of 
one of the Connecticut regiments during the French and Indian 
War. Chaplain John Cleaveland, class of 1745, mentions him in 
his diary for 1758. He also served as chaplain during the Revo- 
lutionary War and appears to have been with soldiers of his own 
State at the siege of Boston, for a short time, and subsequently in 
the vicinity of New York. In his notice of Dr. Pomeroy, in 
Sprague's "Annals of the Pulpit," Rev. Dr. Dav. Porter says: 
" During a part of that arduous and long-continued conflict he 
was chaplain to the American army, and made powerful appeals 
to the troops in favor of the vigorous prosecution of the war. 
His zeal for national liberty was very manifest in his pulpit per- 
formances among his own people." The Doctor died Dec. 22, 



Roll of Honor. 18; 



1784, in the eighty-first year of his age. His obituary notice in 
the Conn. Mercury, Jan. 14, 1785, says : " He was a zealous and 
able advocate for the civil and religious liberties of his country, 
and warmed with true patriotism, exposed his life in his old age 
in camp, in the late war with Britain. He was once pursued and 
fired upon by a party of the enemy near the lines at New York, 
as he was riding to visit the hospital, and narrowly escaped death ; 
he left the field in the dear cause of his country, only on account 
of bodily infirmities." ' 

Class of I J I?). 



David Wooster, 

Brigadier-Geiiei'al Continental Army. 
Major-General Connecticut Militia. 

Gen. Wooster's name and services as a soldier of three wars, 
in each of which he played an honorable part, and his noble 
sacrifice in the last, are familiar to readers of American history. 

A native of the old town of Stratford, Conn., where he was 
born March 2, 171 1, he settled in New Haven about 1748, and in 
time engaged successfully in business. He married Mary Clapp, 
daughter of the President of the College, and had four children, 
of whom a son, Thomas, graduated in the class of 1768 and also 
served in the Revolution, a part of the time with his father. 

Wooster's first public service dates back to the year 1741, when 
he was appointed Lieutenant on the sloop-of-war " Defence," 
built by Connecticut to guard her coast during the troubles 
with Spain, or what was jocularly called in England the war of 
" Jenkins' Ear." In the following year he was promoted Cap- 
tain. He appears again for service when the expedition against 
Louisburg, Cape Breton, was set on foot in the spring of 1745. 
For that undertaking Connecticut contributed one regiment of 
five hundred men under Col. Andrew Burr, with Wooster as 

' Note on the Chaplains. — About forty graduates are mentioned as hav- 
ing served as chaplains during the Revolution. Most of them were in the 
State service, or as volunteers, with the militia, and for brief periods at a time ; 
hence the record in their case is often meagre. Chaplains' names seldom ap- 
pear on the State rolls. We have depended largely on published sketches, 
genealogies, town histories, and sometimes tradition, for authority for including 
them in the present list. Full notices of quite a number of them appear in 
Sprague's " Annals of the American Pulpit." 



1 84 Yale in the Revohthon. 

Senior Captain. According to accepted accounts, upon the cap- 
ture of the place, July 17th, and in recognition of his soldierly 
conduct during the siege, he was detailed as one of the ofificers 
to effect the exchange of the French prisoners in France, and 
thence went to England, where he was flatteringly received at 
court. At about the same time he was appointed Captain in a 
new regiment of regulars, which was to be raised in America, and 
the Colonelcy of which was given to Sir William Pepperell, com- 
mander of the provincial troops at Louisburg, as one of the re- 
wards of his success. Wooster, who was the ninth Captain with 
commission dating September 24, 1745, recruited soldiers for the 
regiment in Connecticut, and then returned to Louisburg, where 
it was stationed. There he remained in garrison — a part of the 
time, at least — until the peace in 1748, when the regiment was 
disbanded and the ofificers retired on half-pay. 

Upon the breaking out of the French and Indian War, seven 
years later, Wooster again entered the service. His previous 
record stood to his advantage, and in 1756 the Connecticut As- 
sembly elected him Colonel of the Second Regiment, raised 
for that year, and in 1758, 1759, and 1760 he commanded 
the Third Regiment. His immediate superior in the various 
campaigns was his classmate. Gen. Phineas Lyman, commanding 
all the Connecticut troops, and with him he served successively 
under Loudoun, Abercrombie, and Amherst. The Colonel had a 
share in the important movements, and returned home with added 
military honors and experience. 

When the Revolution opened, Wooster for the third time since 
his cruise on the sloop "Defence," took up the sword in colonial 
interests. He was then sixty-four years of age — one of nine sur- 
vivors of the thirty-two half-pay officers of Pepperell's old Louis- 
burg regiment — but still vigorous and patriotic. As described by 
his chaplain, Rev. Benjamin Trumbull : " His personal appearance 
was good, grand, and soldierlike. He was active and cheerful, 
and retained his activity, cheerfulness and powers remarkably till 
he fell in the cause of his country.'" Renouncing his half-pay, 
he espoused the Revolution. Being a conspicuous veteran of the 
old wars, the Connecticut Assembly appointed him, April 26, 
1775, Major-General of six militia regiments, to be raised imme- 
' Thanksgiving sermon, North Haven, Dec. 11, 17S3. 



Roll of Honor. 185 

diately for "the safety and defence of the colony." He was also 
to command the First as Colonel. As New York was threatened 
by the British, Gen. Wooster marched with his regiment in that 
direction, and encamped at Harlem, June 28th. His coming had 
been urged by the New York Provincial Congress, and a week 
later, July 6th, the " Old General," as he was frequently called, and 
his officers, were entertained in " elegant style " by the City Mili- 
tary Club. Here Wooster remained through the summer, except 
during a portion of August, when he was engaged in collecting 
stock at the eastern end of Long Island. Meantime Congress, at 
Philadelphia, appointed Wooster, June 2 2d, Brigadier-General in 
the Continental Army, and on Sept. 28th he left New York for 
Albany to serve in the Northern Department under Gens. Schuy- 
ler and Montgomery. With the latter general he marched north 
into Canada, and took post at Montreal. Upon Montgomery's 
fall he was left in command in Canada, with a force altogether 
insufficient for its conquest. On April i, '76, he took command at 
Quebec. Gen. Schuyler complained of inactivity and insubordi- 
nation on Wooster's part, and a Committee of Congress recom- 
mended his removal on the ground of incapacity. Wooster 
afterwards demanded an investigation of his conduct, and satis- 
factorily answering these charges, was acquitted of blame. John 
Adams throws some light on this matter in his autobiography. 
After stating that the report in Wooster's favor was not adopted 
without a struggle, he adds : 

"In this instance again, as in many others, where the same anti-New-Eng- 
land spirit which pursued Commodore Hopkins persecuted Gen. Wooster, I 
had to contend with the whole host of their enemies, and with the utmost 
anxiety and most arduous efforts was scarcely able to preserve them from dis- 
grace and ruin, which Wooster had merited even less than Hopkins. In 
Wooster's case there was a manifest endeavor to lay upon him the blame of 
their own misconduct in Congress in embarrassing and starving the war in Can- 
ada. Wooster was calumniated for incapacity, want of application, and even 
for cowardice, without a color of proof of either. The charge of cowardice 
he soon refuted by a glorious and voluntary sacrifice of his life, which com- 
pelled his enemies to confess he was a hero." 

In the sharp correspondence between Schuyler and Wooster as 
to affairs in Canada, the latter says in one of his letters, Feb. 11, 
1776: "Since I have been in the army I have exerted every 
faculty to promote a union among the officers, and have carefully 



i86 Yale in the Revolution, 

avoided every thing that might have the least tendency to cause 
jealousness. . . . This is no time to altercate ; the whole of our 
time is little enough to attend to the operations absolutely neces- 
sary for the defence of our country." He seems to have been 
uniformly governed by this spirit. Upon returning from Canada 
he was ordered to report to his home in Connecticut. No further 
Continental service was expected of him, and his resignation was 
probably looked for. As stated in the text, however, he did not 
resign, but while awaiting Continental orders, accepted new serv- 
ice in the State. Connecticut reappointed him Major-General of 
Militia, Oct. 23, 1776, and from that time until the following 
spring he commanded on the Western border. The fact that Con- 
gress ordered a monument erected to his memory, would be suf- 
ficient proof that he was in the service at the time of his death ; 
but the point is settled beyond question in the memorial for the 
General's pay presented to the Legislature, May 2 1 , 1 7 7 7, by his son 
Thomas, in which he says, referring to the interval from October, 
1776, to May 2, 1777 : " During the whole of which time said de- 
ceased was in the pay of the Continent as a Brig'' Gen', which your 
memorialist expects to be able to obtain," &c. {MSS. State 
Library.) 

The closing event in the General's career is noticed in the text 
(p. 71). He met a soldier's fate in fighting the enemy on the 
Danbury raid. The inscription ordered by Congress to be 
placed on the proposed monument is arranged as follows on the 
printed minutes : 

In Honor of 

DAVID WOOSTER, 

Brigadier-General in the Army of the 

United States ; 

In defending the Liberties of Amei'ica, 

and bravely repelling an Inroad of the British 

Troops, to Danbury, in Connecticut, 

he received a mortal wound, 

on the 27th Day of April, 1777, 

and died on the 2 of May following. 

The Congress of the United States, 

as an Acknowledgement of his Merits aiul Services, 

have caused this Monument 

to be erected. 



Roll of Honor. 187 

No monument was put up until 1854, the expense of which was 
borne by citizens of Connecticut. It stands over his grave at Dan- 
bury. 

Class of 1 241. 

Jabez Huntington, 

Majo7--Geiicral, Connecticut Militia. 

The sketch of Gen. Huntington in the " Huntington Family 
Memoir " and the references to him in Hinman's "Connecticut," 
indicate his influence and standing before the public during the 
Revolution. He lived at Norwich, where, as a merchant, he had 
acquired large wealth. During the Revolution he was prominent 
as a member of the Upper House of Assistants, as well as of the 
State Committee of Safety. He had four sons in the service — 
one of them Gen. Jedidiah, graduate of Harvard, and another, 
Col. Ebenezer, class of 1775, Yale, frequently mentioned in the 
text. He also held militia commissions himself. In Dec, 1776, 
he was appointed Second Major-General of the State, and upon 
the death of General Wooster he was promoted, May, 1777, "first 
Major-General over all the militia." He seems to have turned 
out with them on alarms whenever his health permitted. One 
instance is mentioned when, early in September, 1778, a fleet of 
British ships appeared off New London, and the militia, to the 
number of about four thousand, hastened to the town. The 
Gazette oi that place for Sept. 11, 1778, says : "Great praise is 
due to the militia of the neighboring towns, who, on that occa- 
sion, so generally and with so great alacrity, came to our assist- 
ance ; Major-General Huntington was so sensible of this, that on 
Saturday the several regiments, being drawn up, received his 
thanks in general orders." His exertions in the public service 
affected his health and he retired from office in 1779. He died 
Oct. 5, 1786, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 



1 88 Yale in the Revohttion. 

William Livingston, 

Governor of New Jersey. 
Brigadier-General, State Militia. 

The " Life " of Gov. Livingston, by Theodore Sedgwick, Jr., 
published in 1833, and the nine volumes of his correspondence 
now in possession of Samuel L. M. Barlow, Esq,, of New York, 
are the principal memorials extant of this staunch supporter of 
the Revolution. He was born at Albany, Nov. 30 (?), 1723, 
studied law, and became distinguished in his j^rofession in New 
York City. Having literary tastes, he wrote reviews, letters, 
and satires, and twice edited a paper. He took an interest in 
questions of the day, and exerted no slight influence. In 1772 
he removed to Elizabethtown, N. J., and in 1774 was sent as a 
delegate to the First Continental Congress. He was a member 
also in '75 and '76, but was engaged in other service at the time 
the Declaration was adopted, so that his signature does not ap- 
pear on that document. 

On Oct. 28, 1775, the New Jersey Legislature appointed Livings- 
ton Brigadier-General of the Militia, and in the summer of 1776, 
while embodying and disciplining the troops, he had a brief ex- 
perience in camp at Elizabethtown Point, opposite the enemy, on 
Staten Island. In a letter to Mr. Hooper, delegate from North 
Carolina, he says, Aug. 29th : " You would really be astonished 
to see how grand I look, while at the same time I can assure you 
I was never more sensible (to use a New England phrase) of my 
own nothingness in military affairs. I removed to my quarters 
from the town hither to be with the men, and to enure them to 
discipline. My ancient corporeal fabric is almost totter- 

ing under the fatigue I have lately undergone : constantly rising 
at 2 o'clock in the morning to examine our lines, which are very 
extensive, till daybreak, and from that time perpetually till eleven 
in giving orders, sending desjjatches, and doing the proper business 
of quartermasters, colonels, commissaries, and I know not what." 
His stay in the field was brief; for on Aug. 31, 1776, he was 
elected Governor of the State, a position to which he was regu- 
larly re-elected until his death in 1790. In this capacity he was 
to prove invaluable. The Tories hated and abused him heartily; 
but his faith in the cause, his influence with his people, his tact, 



Roll of Hono7^. 189 

wit, and resources combined to make him a governor for the 
times. A thankless and burdensome office during the war, he 
filled it to the best advantage for the country, especially assisting 
Washington and his army, who so often encamped and fought on 
Jersey soil. The Governor's letter to Steuben, printed in the 
text, shows what he was made of, and much more of like charac- 
ter might be quoted both from his published and unpublished 
papers. With Clinton, of New York, and Trumbull, of Connec- 
ticut, he may be regarded as a true " Avar governor " of the Rev- 
olution. His death occurred at Elizabeth, N. J., July 25, 1790. 
An obituary notice, published in the United States Gazette for 
July 28, 1790, says : " In his death America sustains the loss of 
one of her most distinguished patriots, and the republic of letters 
a very brilliant ornament. Born and educated in this country, 
his whole life was a constant succession of services to pro- 
mote its best interests, and in every public department he dis- 
charged his duty with great ability and the most conscien- 
tious integrity." Reference to his father and brothers appears on 
page 5- 



m^- 




Noah Welles, D.D., 

Chaplain, Connecticut. 

Pastor at Stamford, Conn. His attachment to colonial interests 
was shown in Stamp Act times, when he openly preached resist- 
ance against ministerial interference. " He died in office," says 
Prof. Dexter, " after just thirty years of faithful ministry, Dec. 
31, 1776, at the age of fifty-eight, from jail-fever, contracted 
while serving as chaplain to British prisoners in the American 
Army." ' 

' Dr. Welles's classmate, Rev. Dr. James Sproat, of Philadelphia, is men- 
tioned in the Journals of Congress as writing to that body respecting hospital 
service. He may have served as Hospital Chaplain with Dr. Spencer in the 
" Middle District " for a time. 

Rev, Dr. Moses Mather, class of 1739, pastor in Middlesex parish (Darien), 
Stamford, is sometimes mentioned as having been chaplain. His patriotism 
and cruel treatment by the enemy are well known, but lie does not appear to 
have been with troops in camp. 



I go Yale in the Revolution. 

Class ^/" 1 743 . 



Stephen Johnson, 



Chaplain, Connecticut . 



Pastor at Lyme. A patriotic preacher who was appointed 
Chaplain to Colonel Samuel H. Parsons' State Regiment in May? 
1775, and who went with it to the Boston siege. He was there 
several months. Dr. Stiles speaks of meeting him in camp, in 
September. See text, p. 24. Mr. Johnson died Nov. 8, 1786, 
aged sixty-two. 

Class of ly^^. 

John Cleaveland, 

Chaplain, Massachusetts. 

Pastor at Ipswich, Mass. ; born at Canterbury, Conn., April 
II, 1722. He was chaplain of Col. Bagley's Massachusetts Regi- 
ment in the French and Indian War, when he kept an interesting 
diary which appears in the publications of the Essex Institute, 
Salem, for 1874-1875. In 1775 he was with the troops for a 
season during the Boston siege ; and in the fall of 1776 he ap- 
pears in Washington's army as chaplain of Col. Jonathan Cogs- 
well's Essex County Militia. The regiment reached camp just 
before the battle of White Plains and was assigned to Parsons' 
brigade. It returned in December or January following. Mr. 
Cleaveland did not serve again. He died April 22, 1799.^ 

Samuel Tuthh.l, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, New Jersey Troops, 

A physician of Morristown, N. J. He appears on patriotic 
committees in Morris Co., in 1775, ^^^ on Oct. 27th, of that year, 
he was commissioned Lieut.-Colonel of Col. Matthias William- 
son's regiment of light horse to be raised in the eastern part of 
the State. Colonel Tuthill resigned soon after, on Feb. 3, 1776, 
and his name does not appear again on the New Jersey rolls. He 
died May 31, 1814, aged seventy-nine. 

' Rev. Nathanael Taylor, of this class, is mentioned in the sketch of his son, 
Lieut. Aug. Taylor, class of 1776. 



Roll of Honoi\ 191 

Class of 1 746. 



Lewis Morris, 



Signer, Declaration of Independence. 
Brigadier-General, New York Militia. 



General Morris represented the well-known colonial family 
of the manor of Morrisania, Westchester Co., N. Y., being the 
fifth proprietor and third lord of the estate. Gov. Lewis Morris, 
early Governor of New Jersey, was his grandfather. He was 
born April 8, 1726, and upon inheriting his large property 
spent his time in improving it. In 1775 he was elected a dele- 
gate to the Continental Congress, and went again in 1776, when 
he signed the Declaration. Previous to this, or June 6, 1776, the 
New York Provincial Congress appointed him Brigadier-General 
of the Westchester Militia ; but his duties in Congress and the 
affairs of his family, who were compelled to leave their mansion 
in view of military operations in August and September, pre- 
vented him from serving. On June 25, 1778, however, he was 
reappointed Brigadier-General, and went into camp with the 
militia of his county. Among Gov. Clinton's MSS., Albany, is 
a note from Washington to Gen. Charles Scott, Oct. 17, 1778, in- 
structing him " to supply such small parties of Militia with Pro- 
visions as Gen. Morris shall think necessary for the Protection of 
the Farmers, who by their situation are liable to be interrupted 
in their farming business," and " to second the Militia in this 
Duty as much as circumstances will allow." 

For a time during the war Gen. Morris lived in New Jersey. 
At its close he returned to his estate, which he describes as hav- 
ing suffered " every injury that it could possibly experience from 
the hand of devastation." On May 6, 1784, he was appointed 
Assistant Judge of Westchester County, and in 1786 appears as 
Senator and member of the Council of Appointment. He was 
also appointed Major-General of the Southern Division of the 
State, and as such was buried with military honors upon his 
death, Jan. 22, 1798. His remains were placed in the family 
vault at Morrisania. An extract from his obituary notice reads : 
" With his friends he was highly esteemed ; for he possessed 
those qualities which render the friend truly valuable. To an 



192 Yale in the Revolution. 

uncommon degree of cheerfulness of disposition were united as 
genuine philanthropy and hospitality as ever graced or warmed 
the bosom of man." 

John Morin Scott, 

Brigadier-General, New York State Troops. 

A leading citizen and advocate of New York, and one of 
the early graduates of the College from this city. Chancellor 
Kent's estimate of him appears on page 6, and Col. Varick, after- 
wards Mayor of New York, who studied law with the General, 
speaks of him in a private letter in the same high terms of ap- 
preciation. 

Scott was born in New York in 1730, the only child of John 
and Marian Morin Scott. His grandfather, who was third son of 
Sir John Scott, Baronet, of Ancrum, County Roxbury, Scotland, 
settled in New York as a merchant some time before 1700. As 
a lawyer Scott was eminently successful, and is mentioned by 
John Adams as being one of the leaders of the bar in 1775. At 
that time he lived in a country seat, ''three miles out of town," 
or near the corner of Thirty-third Street and Ninth Avenue. He 
took an active part against parliamentary interference, and " as a 
powerful public speaker in favor of the colonial cause, might be 
called the Samuel Adams or James Otis of New York." In 
1775-76 he was a member of the Provincial Committee and Con- 
gress. On June 9, 1776, he was commissioned Brigadier-General 
of a New York State brigade of three thousand men to reinforce 
Washiiigton, and with it he was stationed in the city until the 
battle of Long Island. After that battle his brigade was ordered 
over to the Brooklyn lines. The General wrote an interesting 
letter describing the situation to John Jay, a portion of which is 
given on page 48. He was a member of the Council which re- 
solved upon the retreat from Long Island. His brigade was also 
caught in the forced retreat from the city, Sept. 15th, after which 
it moved with the army to Harlem Heights and White Plains. 



Roll of Honor. 19: 



When Washington marched into New Jersey General Scott took 
post under Heath, on the Hudson, near Peekskill, and there 
remained on duty until March i, 1777, when his commission 
expired. Retiring from the service he became Secretary of 
State, March 13, 1778, and in 1780 was elected a member of the 
Continental Congress, serving three terms. He was also a State 
Senator, and a member of the New York Cincinnati Society. 
During the war he lived at Hurley, not far from Kingston, and 
upon the evacuation of New York by the enemy he returned to 
his native city. His health, however, was poor, and he survived 
but about a year longer, his death occurring Sept. 14, 1784. He 
was buried in Trinity churchyard. The New York Journal, of 
Thursday, Sept. 16, 1784, notices his death as follows : " Died — 
On Tuesday evening last, at 7 o'clock, in an advanced stage of 
life, the Hon. John Morin Scott, Esq., Secretary of the State ; 
lately one of the members to represent this State in the Hon. 
Continental Congress ; member of the Hon. Senate during the 
war ; Brigadier-Gen. of the Militia ; and very eminent as a Law- 
yer for many years in this City. In him his country has lost a 
steady Friend, Society a useful Member, and his Friends and 
acquaintance a sincere and affectionate Companion. We hear 
that his remains are to be interred this day." 

Two of Gen. Scott's letters appear in the text, one written in 
1777, the other in 1778. 




Elihu Spencer, D.D., 

Hospital Chaplain, Continental Army. 

Rev. Dr. Spencer, of Trenton, N. J., was Chaplain to the New 
York troops in the French and Indian war, campaign of 1758. 
He was in the same camp with, and frequently met. Chaplains 



194 Yale in the Revolutioii, 

Pomeroy and Cleaveland, already mentioned. Like them, he ap- 
peared again in the Revolution. On Sept. i8, 1777, Congress 
voted to appoint Chaplains for the hospitals in each military 
department, " at sixty dollars a month, three rations, and forage 
for one horse." Dr. Spencer received the appointment for the 
" Middle District," which included New Jersey, Oct. 20, 1777. 
How long he served in this position does not appear. He was 
born Feb. 12, 1721 ; died Dec. 18, 1784. 

Ezra Stiles. 

President of Yale College, 1778-95. 

As the Connecticut branch of the Cincinnati Society, an asso- 

«^ ciation of Revolutionary officers, elected Dr. Stiles a member in 

V 1784, in recognition, no doubt, of his high patriotism and con- 

>-. fidence throughout the struggle, we may include his name in this 

connection for a similar reason — causa honoris. The most appro- 

Vpriate tribute to his memory that can be inserted here is that 
^^' delivered by Chancellor Kent before the Phi Beta Kappa Society 
^^ > V^ \^^ Yale in 1831 — the Chancellor having entered college in 1778, 

t^ ^ f upon the accession of Dr. Stiles to the Presidency : ^ 
V 5 
i \ " President Stiles' zeal for civil and religious liberty was kindled at the altar 

"^ 'y\V<3. j" f of the English and New England Puritans, and it was animating and vivid. A 

>-) *>*-^ / more constant and devoted friend to the Revolution and Independence of this 

- > -^^ country never existed. He had anticipated it as early as the year 1760, and 

'^V ■ his whole soul was enlisted in favor of every measure which led on gradually 

^ j^v ^ " to the formation and establishment of the American Union. The frequent ap- 

t "^i peals which he was accustomed to make to the heads and hearts of his pupils, 

2 ' ' concerning the slippery paths of youth, the grave duties of life, the responsi- 

N bilities of man, and the perils and hopes and honors and destiny of our 

^ ,; ^ '"■ country, will never be forgotten by those who heard them ; and especially when 

^-^■. he came to touch, as he often did, with 'a master's hand and prophet's fire,' 

on the bright vision of the future prosperity and splendor of the United 

States." 

Autograph on p. 140.' 

' Thomas Fitch, of this class, son of Gov. Fitch, class of 1721, was a Colonel 
of Fairfield Co. Militia. He is mentioned as having hurried off companies to 
reinforce Washington in the summer of 1776 ; and again his regiment was with 
Wooster at and beyond Rye in the following winter for a short time. Whether 
he went in person on either occasion does not appear. He was prominent in 
his town as a committeeman and representative. Born at Norwalk, Aug. 12, 
1725 ; died there Jan. 15, 1795. 






.^^ 



Roll of Honor. 195 

Class of 1 747. 



Oliver Wolcott, 

Signer, Declaration of Indepe^idence. 
Major-General, Connecticut Troops. 

The elaborate Wolcott " Memorial " volume, edited by the late 
Rev. Dr. Samuel Wolcott, Class of 1833, is the authority for most 
of the facts in the present sketch of Gen. Oliver Wolcott of the 
Revolution. It contains documents and letters from his pen not 
heretofore printed. 

Gen. Wolcott was born at Windsor, Conn., Dec. 20, 1726, but 
his home, in after years, was at Litchfield. He served as cap- 
tain one campaign, 1748, in the war against the French on the 
Canada border, and, returning, practised medicine for a short 
time. After 175 1 he generally held some public office. He be- 
came successively sheriff, representative, member of the Gover- 
nor's Council, Probate Judge, Judge of the County Court, and 
Member of Congress. In 1774 he was Colonel of the 17th 
militia regiment. After the Revolution he rose still higher, 
becoming what his father, Roger, and his son, Oliver, were in 
their time — Governor of Connecticut. 

Much of the time during the Revolution Wolcott was in the 
field or attending Congress. He was a member of the latter 
body in 1776, when he signed the Declaration of Independence. 
His classmate, Lyman Hall, then living in Georgia, was also one of 
the " signers." Being at home temporarily for his health, the State 
Council of Safety appointed him, Aug. 12, 1776, Brigadier-General 
of nine militia regiments ordered to join the army at Ncav York. 
Wolcott took the command, with commission dated Aug. 15th, 
and was in the city at the time of the battle of Long Island. His 
regiments being soon distributed in new brigades, he returned to 
Connecticut, and in November took his seat again in Congress. 
He was with that body when it retired for safety from Philadel- 
phia to Baltimore in December. Being at home in the fall of 
1777, he received an urgent request from Gen. Gates to reinforce 
him with Conn, militia. Wolcott had been appointed by the 
Legislature, Dec, 1776, permanent Brigadier of the Sixth Militia 
Brigade, and as such he called for volunteers to go with him to 
Gates' army. Three hundred started on horseback and reached 



196 Yale in the Revolution. 

camp about ten days before Burgoyne's surrender. One of his 
letters from that point is given in the text. From Feb. to July, 
1778, he was again in Congress. In the summer of 1779 he was 
especially active in obtaining information respecting the move- 
ments of the enemy, who were threatening to enter Connecticut 
through Westchester County, while Tryon was at New Haven. 
His papers, deposited in the Connecticut Historical Society, con- 
tain several letters conveying minute intelligence to Washington's 
camp in regard to Clinton's whereabouts. He had called out 
the militia, and at the same time wrote earnestly to Washington 
for help, in view of the enemy's descent on the coast. Washing- 
ton replied : " Be assured, sir, that I have felt much pain at the 
destruction of your towns, and had been unhappy that I could 
not, consistent with the general good, afford such an aid of con- 
tinental troops as might have prevented it. I hope, however, 
that the late fortunate attack on Stony Point will tend to give a 
check to the continuance of the ravages in your State." Some 
time before this Wolcott had been promoted Major-General of 
the militia, although the date does not appear. In 1780-81 he 
again went to Congress. In 1786 he was elected Lieut.-Governor 
of Connecticut, and later held the rank of Lieut.-General of the 
militia. In 1796-97 he was Governor of the State. His public 
services had thus been continuous and important for many years, 
and especially during the Revolution was he active and always 
confident of ultimate success. He died at Litchfield, Dec. i, 1797. 
His autograph appears on page 42, it being a fac-simile of the one 
appended to the Declaration.' 

Class of 1748. 



Ebenezer Cleaveland, 

CJiaplain, MassacJmsetts. 

Younger brother of Chaplain John Cleaveland, class of 1745. 
His principal pastorate was at Gloucester, Mass. He became 

' Rev. Chauncey Graham, of this class, resided at Fishkill, N. Y., where he 
had charge of an academy. On Nov. 26, 1776, he was requested by the N. Y. 
Provincial Congress to take care of sick soldiers, as a physician " at the Conti- 
nental expense." He was doing so as late as Jan., 1777. 

Writing to Gen. Heath, Nov. 29, 1776, Mr. Graham says : " If you know 
where my kinsman Dr. Graham is you will advise me in your next." This 
was probably Dr. John Augustus Graham, Class of 1768, of White Plains, a 
patriotic man whose house was burned by the enemy after the battle there. 



Roll of Honor. 197 

chaplain of Col. Jonathan Ward's regiment from Massachusetts, 
Jan. I, 1776, and served to the end of the year. It was with 
Washington at New York, and engaged in part at the battle of 
Long Island. The chaplain is reported as being on " furlough " 
in October. The regiment was the 21st Continental Foot, raised 
for service during 1776. Mr. Cleaveland died July 4, 1805. 

Naphtali Daggett, D.D., 

Ex'Pi'esident of the College. 
Volunteer. 

President Daggett is identified with the war on the occasion of 
the New Haven raid, in 1779, an account of which appears in 
the text. His patriotism and courage are proverbial. He was 
among the first to start out to meet the enemy, but soon fell into 
their hands. After receiving much cruel treatment he was per- 
mitted to remain in New Haven ; but the shock was such that he 
never fully recovered from its effects, and his death followed, 
Nov. 25, 1780. 

Dr. Daggett was born at Attleboro, Mass., Sept. 8, 1727. His 
brother, Col. John Daggett, of that place, was a man of note and 
an efficient militia officer in the Revolution. The Doctor was 
called to the church at Smithtown, L. I., in 1751, where he re- 
mained until 1755, when he returned to the college to fill the 
new Livingston Chair of Divinity. In 1766 he became President 
of the College, and retained the position until 1777. He con- 
tinued his relations with the college, as Professor of Divinity, 
until his death. His two sons, Henry and Ebenezer, both gradu- 
ates, entered the service. Dr. Daggett's own account of his ex- 
periences and capture has been printed several times. It does 
not differ materially from Mr. Goodrich's description in the 
chapter for 1779-80, pages 106-8. 

Jonathan Fitch, 

Colonel and Commissary y Co?inecticnt. 

Colonel Fitch had been the steward of the College for several 
years before the war ; also Naval Officer at New Haven. He 



i-. 



198 Y^ale in the Revolution. 

was Colonel of the 2d militia regiment. In May, 1775, '"'^ was 
appointed a State Commissary by the Legislature, and the duties 
of this office appear to have engaged his attention most of the 
time during the war. He was purchaser of goods and stores of 
all kinds both for State and Continental troops. One of his public 
notifications dated New Haven, Nov. 16, 1778, is as follows : 
" The several Towns in the County of New Haven are hereby 
notified immediately to bring to me the Quota of Cloathing to be 
furnished by them for their soldiers in the Continental army, 
particularly the Blankets, as they are much wanted the present 
distressing season — Captain Prentice having been sent from 
camp by General McDougal to forward the cloathing to the camp 
as soon as possible. Jonathan Fitch, Commissary." Col. Fitch 
was born in Norwalk, Conn., April 12, 1727, and died in New 
Haven, Sept. 22, 1793. 



d^^ 







John Hotchkiss, 

Volunteer. 

Resident of New Haven ; born Nov. 12, 1731. He went out 
with the volunteers to resist the British on the morning of 
Tryon's invasion, July 5, 1779, and was killed, it would appear, 
at an early hour. Dr. Stiles states that he fell on Milford Hill, 
beyond West Bridge, a short time before his classmate, Dr. Dag- 
gett, was captured. 

James Wadsworth, 

Major -General, Connecticut Militia. 

A good sketch of Gen. Wadsworth appears in the history of 
Durham, Conn., where he lived, and where he was born July 6, 
1730. He became a lawyer and also held public office, such as 
that of Town Clerk and State representative, and on May 26, 
1778, was appointed Judge of the New Haven County Court. 



Roll of Honor. 199 

Upon the Lexington alarm, Wadsworth, then Colonel, exerted 
himself in hurrying troops off to Boston. A letter of the time 
states that he was in Wallingford " most of Sunday," April 23, 
1775, and had ordered twenty men from each regiment of his 
brigade to march the next day. He also went himself, but 
apparently not to remain long. On June 20, 1776, he was com- 
missioned Brigadier-General over seven State regiments raised to 
reinforce Washington at New York. Four of these, as stated on 
page 37, were commanded by graduates. They were engaged in 
part or in whole at the battle of Long Island, retreat from New 
York, Harlem Heights, and White Plains. Upon the death of 
Gen. Wooster, Gen. Wadsworth, who had been made Brigadier of 
the Second Militia Brigade in December, 1776, was promoted 
May, 1777, second Major-General, and as such looked after the 
militia during the remainder of the war. In October, 1777, he 
was with Putnam on the Hudson, who endeavored to prevent the 
British from forming a junction with Burgoyne above. Several 
of Gen. Wadsworth's letters to Gov. Trumbull, describing move- 
ments in that quarter, are among the Trumbull papers, Boston. 
In one letter he proposes that David Bushnell be sent to blow up 
the enemy's ships off Kingston. Thereafter he appears to have 
been active in the State, at one time being with troops at New 
London on the occasion of an alarm. He is described as " a 
large, erect, military figure." His death occurred September 22, 
181 7. James and William Wadsworth, who settled at Geneseo, 
N. Y., were his nephews. 

Class of 1749. 

Nathaniel Bartlett, 

Chaplain, Connecticut . 

Mr. Bartlett acted as Chaplain to the troops quartered from 
time to time at or near Redding, Conn., where he was settled. 
He died Jan. 11, 1810, aged eighty-three years. 



200 Yale in the Revolution. 

Thomas Russell, 

Sitrgeon, Connecticut Troops. 

He is mentioned in the records as surgeon of Col. Heman 
Swift's Connecticut Regiment, which was on duty in the Northern 
Department during the latter half of 1776. A native of North 
Guilford, born Oct. 16, 1727. He died in 1803 at Piermont, 
N. H., where he had settled. 

Joseph Strong, 

Chaplain, Connecticnt. 

Pastor at Simsbury (Granby), Conn. ; afterwards at Williams- 
burg, Mass. He served as chaplain of Cols. Chapman's and 
Pettibone's militia regiments in Gen. Wolcott's command in 
Aug.-Sept., 1776, in and around New York. Born, Coventry, 
Conn., March 19, 1729; died, Goshen, Mass., Jan. i, 1803. 

Class of 1750. 

Joseph Platt Cooke, 

Colonel, Connecticut Militia. 

Resident of Danbury, Conn.; born December 24, 1729. He 
was a man of considerable influence and property. In 1776 he 
was Colonel of the i6th militia regiment, which formed part 
of Gen. Wolcott's force in New York in August and Septem- 
ber, 1776. At the time the enemy captured the city, September 
15th, Col. Cooke was in Douglas' Brigade, stationed along Kip's 
Bay, at the foot of East Thirty-Fifth St., which was driven from 
its position by the short-range fire of the British men-of-war. It 
retreated in something of a panic, and formed part of the force 
which Washington endeavored in vain to rally that day. Col. 
Cooke afterwards turned out against Tryon in the Danbury raid, 
and was probably with Putnam's force on the Hudson during the 
Burgoyne campaign. He died Feb. 3, t8i6, aged eighty-seven. 




Roll of Honor. 201 

Class <?/" 1751. 

JUDAH Champion, 

CJiaplain, Connecticut. 

Pastor at Litchfield, Conn. He was born at Haddam, May 21, 
1724, and died October 8, 1810. Devotedly attached to the 
cause, he is said to have often preached war sermons. During 
Burgoyne's campaign he acted as Chaplain, to a Connecticut regi- 
ment probably, and took especial care of the sick and wounded. 

Giles Russell, 

Colonel, Continental Army. 

Colonel Russell's record is that of a worthy man and experi- 
enced soldier, who gave nearly twelve years of his life to the pub- 
lic and died in its service. He came of good stock, being grand- 
son of Rev. Noadiah Russell, one of the founders of Yale College, 
and son of Rev. Daniel Russell, class of 1724, of Rocky Hill, 
Conn. The Colonel was born at the latter place, November 8, 
1729. 

The French and Indian war breaking out a few years after his 
graduation, Russell joined the Provincial forces and took part in 
various campaigns to the close. He served throughout with the 
Rhode Island quota, doubtless having friends in that colony, and 
received several promotions. Appointed first as Ensign Septem- 
ber, 1756, he was made Lieutenant, February, 1756, Adjutant in 
March, 1758, and again in February, 1759 (when the regiment 
was commanded by Col. Henry Babcock, of the class of 1752), 
and Captain, 1760 to 1763. He served under Johnson, Loudoun, 
Abercrombie, and Amherst. In the attack upon Ticonderoga, 
July 8, 1758, he was wounded, but was present again, it would 
appear, in the following year, at the recovery of Crown Point. 
He also took part in the expedition against Havanna in 1762, 
where he lost half his company from the severities of the climate. 

Returning to Connecticut, Russell settled at Stonington about 
the time of the peace, 1763-64, and practised law until the Rev- 
olution. In that crisis, he again stepped forward and joined the 
common cause. The Connecticut Assembly appointed him 
Major of Col. Selden's State Regiment, June 20, 1776, and later 



202 Yale in the RevohUion. 

July 2, Lieutenant-Colonel of Sage's Regiment, with which he 
served in Washington's army in and around New York, until the 
close of the year. His brigade was present in the Long Island 
retreat, at Kip's Bay, and the battle of White Plains. Upon the 
reorganization of the army, he was appointed, Jan. i, 1777, 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Connecticut Continental Line, 
Col. Chandler's (Y. C. 1759), which fought at the battle of Ger- 
mantown and wintered at Valley Forge, 1777-78. In Nov. 

1777, he was assigned to relieve Col. Smith, of Maryland, who 
had been bravely defending Mud Island Fort below Philadelphia, 
but he requested to be recalled on account of illness. Gen. Var- 
num, his Brigadier, speaks of him at the time as "an amiable, 
sensible man, and an excellent officer, but exhausted by fatigue 
and totally destitute of health." Chandler resigning at Valley 
Forge, Russell was promoted Colonel in his place, March 13, 

1778. He was present at Monmouth, as stated on p. 90, being in 
command of his brigade part of the time, and was again with his 
regiment when ordered to march into Connecticut at the time of 
Tryon's raid, July, 1779. But here again his old wound troubled 
him and he stopped at Danbury. The only letter from his pen 
that can be found is dated from that place July 17th. He says to 
Heath : " My leg is in such a condition that I must beg Leave to 
stay here a few Days under the care of Doctor Turner, who 
I hope will soon patch it up, so that I may Join the Troops." He 
seems, however, to have failed after this as he died at Danbury, 
Oct. 28th, following. Respecting his death and his successor, see 
p. no. The following obituary notice of the Colonel appears in 
the New London Gazette, Nov. 10, 1779 : 

"... He received an early and liberal education at Yale College, 
New Haven : The profitable Improvement he made of those Advantages was 
conspicuously exemplified in his Life and conversation : The brightness of 
his Parts, the solidity of his Judgment, and the candor and generosity of his 
Temper, distinguished him as the Scholar and Philosopher. Whenever the 
Safety of his Country demanded his Assistance, he readily entered into the 
most active Posts of Life and faced the greatest Dangers, Fatigues, and Dis- 
tress with a Constancy and firmness of Mind, which plainly showed that the in- 
terest of his Country was an object which claimed his highest attention. He 
served as an officer during the whole term of the late war, to Universal accept- 
ance, in which war he received Wounds, which might be judged, had rendered 
him unfit.inagreat measure for Action; but notwithstanding, at the Commence- 



Roll of Honor. 



20' 



ment of the present, he plainly shewed that that martial Ardour which had 
fired his Breast heretofore, was not extinguished, but blazed with additional 
Warmth ; and upon Requisition made, chearfully stept forth in Defence of his 
injured Country ; and from June, 1776, to the Time of his Death, attended 
Duty in the Field almost constantly, having visited his Family but few times, 
and those very short. . . . He often manifested the hightest Sense, with 
firm dependence on, and reverential Fear of, that Almighty Being, who 
governs universal Nature uncontroul'd. In private Life, he was happily 
possessed of those amiable Qualities requisite for forming domestic Peace, con- 
jugal Felicity, and Paternal love. He has left a mournful widow, in a very low 
and debilitated state, and an affectionate and only Daughter to lament his 
Death." 




Cotton Mather Smith, 



Chaplain, Comiecticut. 



Pastor at Sharon, Conn.; born at Suffield, Oct. 26, 1731. He 
was appointed Chaplain of Col. Benjamin Hinman's Connecticut 
State Regiment, April, 1775, which served for that year at Ticon- 
deroga and in Canada under Montgomery and Wooster. He died 
Nov. 27, 1806.' 

Class of 1752. 



Henry Babcock, 



Colonel, Rhode Island Brigade. 



Eldest son of Dr. Joshua Babcock, class of 1724, whose name 
appears at the head of this roll. In recollections of the Babcocks 
published in the " History of the Narragansett Church," Dr. 
Wheaton says that Henry " was a brilliant and extraordinary man, 
formed by nature and education to be the flower of his family and 
an ornament to the country which gave him birth." 

' Col. Thomas Belden, of this class, is mentioned in the sketch of his son, 
E, P. Belden, class of 1775. 



204 Yale in the Revohitiojt. 

The Colonel was born at Westerly, R. I., April 28, 1736. He 
graduated in his seventeenth year at the head of his class. Three 
years later he took the field in the French and Indian war, being 
appointed, March, 1755, Captain in the R. I. Provincial Regi- 
ment. In August, 1756, he was promoted Major, a year later 
Lieut. -Colonel, and in May, 1758, full Colonel. He was then 
but twenty-two years old. In the attack upon Ticonderoga, 
July 8, 1758, his regiment lost no men killed and wounded, 
and he was wounded himself in the knee. He served five 
campaigns with reputation. At the close of the last one. Gen. 
Amherst wrote to Gov. Hopkins of R. I. (in Force, 4th ser., 
vol. vi.) : " Whereas Col. Babcock has throughout the whole 
campaign continually manifested his great zeal for the pub- 
lick service, I should not do him justice, were I to omit giving 
him this publick testimony of it, and designing you to return him 
my particular thanks for the same." When the Revolution broke 
out he served as a volunteer at the Boston camps for a time, put- 
ting up, apparently, at Gen. Putnam's head-quarters. He was 
there in the fall of 1775, and on Dec. i, Putnam wrote to Wash- 
ington, recommending him for the position of Brigadier-General, 
as follows : " I have been upon service with him several cam- 
paigns the last war, and have seen him in action behave with 
great spirit and fortitude, when he had the command of a regi- 
ment. He has been very serviceable in assisting me in quelling a 
mutiny, and bringing back a number of deserters. ... I 
know of no man who will fill the vacancy with more honour than 
the gentleman above named." (Force.) This recommendation, 
however, was not acted upon, and when he returned home, he was 
appointed Colonel of R. I. Militia, Jan., 1776, and in March, 
Colonel-Commandant of the R. I. Colony Brigade. His orders 
to his command are noticed on pp. 33-4, as well as his success in 
keeping off the enemy's men-of-war. It appears that he was not 
in good health and that his conduct at times required his re- 
moval from command, which was voted by the Assembly in May 
following. Not having " the perfect use of his reason " was the 
ground assigned. Col. Babcock afterwards lived at Stonington, 
Conn., where he died Oct. 7, 1800. Gen. Saltonstall says of him 
in 1775 : " If he is in perfect health, he is undoubtedly at such 
time a gallant soldier." One of his MSS. letters is to be found in 



Roll of Honor, 



205 



the " Gates " papers, N. Y. Hist. Soc, in which he congratulates 
that General on the capture of Burgoyne. The " Trumbull " 
papers also contain one or two of his letters, as well as the pub- 
lished R. I. Colonial Records. 




James Babcock, 



Lieutenant-Colo}iel, Rhode Island. 



Of Westerly, R. I., where he was born, Nov. i, 1734. He was 
half-brother to Dr. Joshua Babcock. In May, 1775, he was ap- 
pointed Lieut.-Colonel of Varnum's R. I. regiment, which was a 
part of the " Army of Observation " which went from that colony 
to the siege of Boston. He was in camp there under Gen. Greene, 
probably to the close of the year. In 1776 he was a member of 
the R. I. Assembly, and in 1777 is mentioned as engaged in send- 
ing recruits to the Army. He died in 1781, 



Gold Selleck Silliman, 

Brigadier-General, Connecticut Militia. 

General Silliman was father and grandfather, respectively, of 
Profs. Benjamin Silliman, Senior and Junior, who were so long 
associated with the College. His own father was Judge Ebenezer 
Silliman, class of 1727, of Fairfield, Conn., where the General was 
born, May 7, 1732. In 1754 he married Martha, daughter of Deo- 
date Davenport, of East Haven, and upon her death in 1774, mar- 
ried Mrs. Mary Noyes, widow of Rev. John Noyes, of New Haven. 

Studying law, he became King's Attorney in 1771, and held 
that office when the Revolution opened. He was a member of 
the Town Committee of Correspondence, and at the April-May 
session of the Legislature, 1775, was appointed Colonel of the 4th 
regiment of militia. In March, 1776, troops being needed to go 



2o6 Yale in the Revolution. 

on with the fortification and defence of New York, Col. Silliman 
was ordered to that point by the Governor and Council with a 
regiment specially organized for the purpose. It remained there 
during the spring. Hardly had he returned home, when he was 
reappointed, in May, Colonel of one of the six regiments raised 
to reinforce Washington for the New York campaign. From that 
date to the close of the year he was actively engaged, taking part 
in the movements on Long Island, the retreat to and from New 
York, the fortification of Washington Heights, and the battle of 
White Plains. His letters from the field are quoted and referred 
to in the text, pp. 45, 51. In the meantime, in June, 1776, he had 
been transferred from the 4th militia to the command of the first 
of the five regiments of Light Horse ordered for State service. 
Retaining this command during the contest, he was also promoted, 
in Dec, 1776, Brigadier-General of the 4th brigade of militia, and 
from that time to the close of the war was entrusted with the de- 
fence of the western coast of the State. Among other occasions, 
he rendered good service during Tryon's Danbury raid. In 1777 
he took the field twice outside of the State ; once in Dec, when 
Putnam made some demonstration with Meigs' regiment towards 
King's Bridge, and again in Sept.-Oct., during Burgoyne's cam- 
paign, when he led a large body of militia to Peekskill on the 
Hudson to reinforce Putnam. His reference to the surrender 
appears on p. 81. On p. 100 his capture by the Long Island 
Tories and subsequent exchange for Judge Jones are mentioned, 
and again, on p. 144, one of his letters, giving warning of the ap- 
proach of a fleet along the Sound, is given in full. His activity 
and vigilance were conspicuous up to the last moment. 

Upon the return of peace, Gen. Silliman resumed his profession 
of law, and was appointed State Attorney for Fairfield County. 
He died July 21, 1790, aged fifty-eight years. Several of his 
letters, as stated, are published in Vol. III., " L. I. Historical Soc 
Memoirs," and extracts are quoted in Cothren's " Woodbury " 
(chapter on the Revolution). Judge Jones' " Loyalist History of 
the Revolution," and "Observations" on the same also contain 
references and letters. 




Roll of Honor. 207 

Class of ly^/^. 

Joshua Porter, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, Connecticut Militia. 

A native of Lebanon, Conn., where he was born, June 26, 1730. 
After graduation he taught school in North Carolina for a year, 
and in 1757 settled as a physician at Salisbury. There he lived 
and practised his profession for forty years. He also took part in 
public affairs, being elected town representative for more than 
forty sessions of the Assembly, and sitting as Judge of Probate 
for thirty-seven years. He served on several important com- 
mittees during the war, and in March, 1776, received the respon- 
sible appointment of superintendent of the State iron works or 
furnace at Salisbury for casting cannon and making ammunition. 
He was one of eight or ten individuals who advanced money for 
the expedition to capture Ticonderoga, May, 1775, and also went 
there himself to report upon the situation. In 1774 he was ap- 
pointed Lieut.-Colonel of the 17th regiment of militia, and on two 
or three occasions during the contest performed tours of duty 
outside of the State. He turned out at the Danbury raid, April, 
1777, and again in the Burgoyne campaign. In his journal, 
printed in the Genealogy of his family, he says : " I com- 
manded a regiment at Peekskill, six weeks at y^ town of Dan- 
bury, being burnt, and likewise commanded a regiment at the 
capture of Gen. Burgoyne and army, and was in y" battles in y"" 
year 1777." At Saratoga he was evidently with one of the two 
Connecticut regiments, made up of details from various militia 
regiments, and assigned to Gen. Poor's brigade. They were 
known as Cook's and Latimer's, and behaved remarkably well, 
especially in the hot engagement of Freeman's Farm, Sept. 19th. 
Col. Porter died at Salisbury, April 2, 1825, aged ninety-five. 




Elisha Sill, 

Surgeon, Connecticut Troops. 

Physician at Goshen, Conn. Born at Lyme, April 6, 1730. 
He is mentioned in the Sill and Hyde Genealogies as having 



2o8 Yale in the Revolution. 

been surgeon of Wolcott's brigade or volunteer body, which rein- 
forced Gates a short time before Burgoyne's surrender. He was 
one of a committee of doctors appointed by the Legislature in 
Oct., 1776, **to examine all persons in this State that were offered 
to serve as surgeons or surgeon's mates in the Continental army 
or navy." He died at Goshen in 1808. 

Class of ly^^. 

David Sanford, 

Chaplain^ Massachusetts. 

Pastor at Medway, Mass.; born December 11, 1739. In 
Sprague's '* Annals " he is mentioned as having served for a 
short time as Chaplain, " an office for which his natural strength 
of character and fine portly bearing, to say nothing of his ardent 
patriotism, admirably qualified him." He died April 7, 1810.' 

Thomas Seymour, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, Connecticut Horse. 

Member of the well-known Hartford family of Seymours, and 
prominent in public affairs ; born March 13, 1735. His father 
was Thomas Seymour, of the class of 1724. Col. Seymour's 
duties during the war were almost entirely of a civil nature as a 
representative and member of the Committee on the Pay Table. 
Part of the time he was one of the State Committee of Safety. In 
June, 1776, the Assembly appointed him Lieut.-Colonel of the 
first State Regiment of Light Horse (Col. Silliman's), and early 
in July he was ordered to New York to reinforce Washington 
until Wadsworth's new regiments reported. He went down with 
about five hundred men, assembled hastily, and was well received ; 
but a dispute arose as to whether horsemen could be called upon 
to do infantry guard duty, as Washington wished, and the command 
was dismissed and returned home. Reflections being cast upon the 
conduct and patriotism of his men, Col. Seymour, on reaching 
Hartford, wrote a full explanation to Gov. Trumbull, which ap- 

' Rev. Thomas Brooks, of Brookfield, Conn., and Rev. Ephraim Stark- 
weather, of Pawtucket, R. I., of this class, are incidentally mentioned as having 
been chaplains. The authority does not appear. 



Roll of Honor. 



209 



pears in Force's Archives, Vol. I., Fifth Series, p. 513. The Colo- 
nel was elected first Mayor of Hartford after its incorporation as 
a city. Two of his sons, Thomas and William, graduates, were 
in the service. His death occurred July 30, 1829. 




Class of ly^G. 



Timothy Danielson, 

Bris[adier-GeneraL Massachusetts Militia. 

Resident of the town of Brimfield, Mass., where he was born 
in 1733. A man of considerable distinction in Hampshire 
County socially and politically. Personally he is described in 
Holland's Western Massachusetts as " a Herculean giant." He 
was a delegate in the Provincial Congress in the stirring years 
of 1774-75. During and after the war he was representative and 
State Senator. In May, 1775, he was commissioned Colonel of 
the Hampshire Militia regiment, and served with it at the siege 
of Boston. Jan. 30, 1776, he was appointed Brigadier-General 
for his county, and retained that rank through the war. He also 
became Chief-Justice of his County Court. His death occurred 
at Brimfield Sept. 16, 1791. 




210 Yale in the Revohitioii, 



John Storrs, 



CJiaplain, Connectiatt. 



Mr. Storrs had been pastor at Southold, L. I., before the war, 
but his church broke up in consequence of hostilities, and he re- 
turned to Mansfield, Conn., his native place. During this inter- 
val he served as Chaplain of Col. Fisher Gay's regiment in 
Wadsworth's Brigade in the campaign of 1776 around New York. 
He is reported as being on " furlough " in October. He died in 
1799. 



Class of lyt^y. 



Jabez Bowen, 



Deputy-Governor , Rhode Island. 
Colonel, State Militia. 



Gov. Bowen is identified with Providence, R. I. He was a 
leading member of the State Assembly, and appears on important 
committees during the war. On May 6, 1778, he was elected 
Deputy-Governor of Rhode Island, and on Feb. 26, 1781, was ap- 
pointed Chief-Justice. At the May session of the Assembly, 
1776, he was appointed Colonel of the first militia regiment of 
Providence County, and served actively with it, being in camp at 
Pawtuxet in February 1777, when the enemy's vessels were 
threatening the coast ; and again, later in the year, he writes from 
Providence, Oct. 3, 1777 : *' Major General Spencer having this 
morning removed his Quarters to Howland's Ferry, the command 
at this post devolves on me " (Trumbull Papers, Boston). He 
appears to have been active also in providing for the wants of the 
French troops after they arrived at Newport in 1780. Gov. 
Bowen was born June 13, 1739, ^"^^ died about May 7, 1815. 



Roll of Honor, 



21 I 



Oliver Noble, 



Chaplain, Massachusetts. 



Pastor at Newberry, Mass. He served as Chaplain of Col. 
Little's Mass. regiment at the siege of Boston in 1775, and after 
Jan. I, 1776, appears as Chaplain both for Little's and Hitch- 
cock's R. I. Regiment, which was in the same brigade. He may 
have accompanied these regiments to New York in the spring of 
1776. He died in 1792. 



Nathaniel Webb, 



Captain, Continental Army. 



Of Windham, Conn., where he was born Aug. 5, 1737. He 
first appears in the service with the organization of the Continen- 
tal Line in 1777. He was commisioned, Jan. i. Captain in Col. 
Durkee's Fourth Connecticut, which in the spring went into camp 
at Peekskill. The regiment joined Washington's army in Penn- 
sylvania in September, and fought at the battle of Germantown. 
It wintered at Valley Forge, and on June 29, 1778, was closely 
engaged in Varnum's brigade at Monmouth. Captain Webb, no 
doubt, was with his regiment in all these movements. In the 
summer of 1779 he was assigned to Wayne's Light Infantry Corps 
after the capture of Stony Point. From this time he remained 
• generally in the Highlands until Jan. i, 1781, when, upon the 
consolidation of regiments he retired from the army. In October, 
1782, he wrote to Gov. Trumbull offering his services as Captain 
of a company to be stationed at New London, but nothing came 
of this. He died Jan. 25, 1814. 




212 Yale in the Revohition. 

Class 0/ lyCfS. 



John Ashley, Jr., 

Co/one/, Massachusetts Militia. 

Son of Judge John Ashley, class of 1730, who was one of the 
early settlers and lawyers of Sheffield, Mass. The Judge was 
himself identified with the early patriotic movement, having pre- 
sided at the county convention in 1774, referred to on page 4. 
Before the war he was Colonel of the South Berkshire regiment, 
with his son as Major. 

The subject of this sketch was born about the year 1736. He 
was commissioned Colonel of the First Berkshire Militia Regi- 
ment April 4, 1777 (Mass. State Archives), evidently succeeding 
his classmate, Col. Mark Hopkins, who died in October, 1776. 
He marched his regiment to the Hudson in July, after the evacu- 
ation of Ticonderoga, and appears, from certain references, to 
have been at Bennington and with the Massachusetts forces in 
the Burgoyne campaign. He would naturally turn out at that 
crisis. It is probable, also, that he served on other occasions in 
that quarter. After the war Col. Ashley took a prominent part 
in the suppression of Shay's rebellion. He had a smart skirmish 
with a party in Sheffield, on Feb. 27, 1787, and scattered them. 
Gen. Lincoln, learning of his movements, wrote him : " Your suc- 
cesses must be important, as they will teach these deluded 
wretches that they cannot march unchecked by the good citizens, 
or spread depredations among them with impunity."' In 1788 
he was made Brigadier of the militia, and in 1789 succeeded Gen. 
Paterson, class of 1762, as Major General of the Ninth Division. 
At various intervals from 1782 to his death, he was a member of 
the Legislature. He died suddenly on the morning of Nov. 5, 
1799, in the sixty-third year of his age, his father surviving him 
until 1802. 

' The Massachusetts Centinel for March 27, 1787, says : " Young Burghurdt, 
a student of Yale College [class of 1787], who was wounded when pursuing the 
insurgents in their retreat after the action with Col. Ashley at Shefifield, is 
likely to recover, though his wound was supposed to be dangerous." 

Elisha Lee, class of 1777, resident of Great Barrington, was Aid-de-camp on 
Cicn. Ashley's staff in 1790. 



/' 



Roll of Honor. 213 

Benjamin Boardman, 

Chaplain, Coniiectiait. 

Pastor at Middle Haddam, Conn., until 1783, and then at Hart- 
ford. He was born at Sandisfield, Mass., in 1732. He is men- 
tioned as Chaplain of Connecticut troops for a time at the Boston 
siege in 1775. In the following year he became Chaplain of Col. 
Durkee's Connecticut regiment in Washington's army, and was 
with it at its station at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City, in Sept. 
when the enemy took New York. A letter from his pen describ- 
ing the events of the time appears in Force's Archives. He died 
at Hartford, Feb. 8, 1802.' 

Philip Burr Bradley, 

Colonel, Continental A rmy. 

Col. Bradley was born in Greenfield Parish, Fairfield, Conn., 
March, 26, 1738, but became a resident of Ridgefield. He was a 
merchant, and influential both socially and politically. On June 
20, 1776, he received a commission as Colonel of one of the State 
regiments comprising Wadsworth's brigade in Washington's army 
at New York, and served in that vicinity to the close of the year. 
His own regiment was posted most of the time at Bergen Heights, 
New Jersey, and afterwards at Forts Lee and Washington. At 
the fall of the latter place in November, the greater part of his 
command was captured by the enemy. The Colonel was on the 
sick list and had been taken home on a litter only a few days 
before. Upon the formation of the new army, Bradley was Com- 
missioned Colonel of the Fifth Connecticut Continental Line, Jan. 
I, 1777, and served with it in the field for four years. When the 
British returned through Ridgefield from the Danbury raid in 
April, 1777, they ransacked the Colonel's house, destroying furni- 
ture and valuables. The Colonel himself, who was at home re- 
cruiting his regiment, turned out and engaged the enemy in the 
skirmish at that place ; he also distributed one hundred and thirty 
gallons of rum from his own stores to the fatigued militia, for 
which losses the Assembly afterwards afforded him relief. Some 

' Rev. Benjamin Wildman, of this class, pastor at Southbury, Conn., is 
referred to in the history of Woodbury as having been Chaplain for a short 
time. 



2 14 Yale in the Revolution, 

of the wounded were cared for in his house. In the fall of 1777, 
Bradley's regiment joined Washington in Pennsylvania and 
fought at Germantown where it sustained some loss ; then 
wintered at Valley Forge, 1777-78. In June, 1778, it was at 
Monmouth, and remained thereafter with the main army on the 
Hudson in New Jersey and on the Connecticut border. The 
Colonel frequently presided at Courts-Martial and occasionally 
commanded his brigade. He retired from the service on the 
reduction of the regiments, Jan. i, 1781. He was a member 
of the Cincinnati Soc, Judge of Fairfield County Court after the 
war, and in Sept., 1789, was appointed first U. S. Marshal of that 
District. As a member of the Assembly he served seven years be- 
fore the war and eleven after. He died at Ridgefield, Jan. 4, 182 1. 




Israel Dickinson, 



Captain, Massachusetts Volunteers. 



Of Pittsfield, Mass. He is supposed to have been born at Hat- 
field in 1735. This reference is made to him in Smith's "History 
of Pittsfield," Vol. I., p. 180 : " In college he was the classmate 
and chum of Israel Stoddard ; and both were the friends of 
Woodbridge Little, who was two classes below them. This early 
college intimacy led to the settlement of the chums, and soon 
after, of Little, upon three adjoining estates in a pleasant section 
of Pittsfield. And there the ante-revolutionary troubles found 
them in the enjoyment of cultivated and harmonious intercourse, 
interchanging reminiscences of college life, and, as the books 
preserved by their descendants prove, indulging and cherishing 
their taste for intellectual pleasures. Nothing remains to show 



Roll of Honor. 215 

when this delightful union was interrupted by the political differ- 
ences which estranged the friends, if they were estranged ; but 
immediately after the Lexington fight, when Stoddard and Little 
were taking refuge in New York from the rage of the people, 
we find Israel Dickinson prominent in the military operations 
of the patriots." Stoddard and Little, however, appear to 
have accepted the Revolution later, as their names are on the 
list of volunteers marching from Pittsfield to Bennington in 
1777. 

Captain Dickinson joined the party that captured Ticonderoga 
in May, 1775, and distinguished himself there. See p. 28. He 
appears to have been active also in 1777, and marched to the 
Bennington field at the first alarm. He may have been at Saratoga, 
but we have no further mention of him after August beyond the 
fact of his death, which the town records show to have occurred 
Nov. 18, 1777, from bilious fever. 



Mark Hopkins, 



i^^^u;<;^t^^^?^ 



Colonel, Massachusetts Troops. 



Colonel Hopkins was one of three brothers who graduated at 
the college, and who became men of more or less note in their 
day. Their father was Tiomthy Hopkins, of Waterbury, Conn. 
The eldest son, Samuel, of the class of 1741, was afterwards the 
distinguished theologian of Newport, R. L Daniel, of the class 
of 1758, settled as a preacher at Salem, Mass.' Mark, of the 
same class, became a leading lawyer at Great Barrington, Mass. 
He was born at Waterbury, Sept. 13, 1739. 

In common with other graduates in Berkshire County, Hop- 

' In Sprague's "Annals" the following facts appear respecting Rev. Dr. 
Daniel Hopkins : "In 1775, when the Revolutionary war broke out and the 
situation of the country required their wisest counsels and best measures, Mr. 
Hopkins was elected a member of the Provincial Congress [of Mass.] ; and in 
that responsible position he displayed great wisdom and vigor of mind as well 
as an enlightened and ardent patriotism. In 1778 he was elected a member of 
the Council of the Conventional Government, and in both offices he served his 
country with great dignity, fidelity, and efficiency." 



2i6 Yale in the Revolution. 

kins took an active part in Revolutionary affairs. When the 
County Convention met in July, 1774, he was placed upon the 
committee to draw up resolutions expressing its views on the 
crisis. In April, 1775, the Provincial Congress at Watertown 
appointed Mr. Hopkins a member of the Committee of Corre- 
spondence for Berkshire, and in this capacity he was able to be 
of much service, watching the disaffected element in that section 
of the State, and furthering the enlistment and supply of troops. 
On Jan. 30, 1776, the Congress elected him Colonel of the First 
Regiment of Berkshire County militia to be ready for any emer- 
gency, and a small part of it was sent to the Hudson Highlands 
for a time. In the summer of this year Massachusetts reinforced 
Washington's army at New York with a brigade of three regi- 
ments under General John Fellows, of Berkshire, with whom 
Colonel Hopkins was doubtless well acquainted. The Colonel 
seems to have accompanied him on this occasion as an aid or 
volunteer, as his regiment was not in the brigade. However this 
may be, he was in New York with Gen. Fellows, and a few days 
after the arrival of the command, Washington appointed him 
Aug. 7, 1776, its Brigade-Major ; and as such he served through 
the trying events in and around the city. Fellows' troops were 
not engaged on the Long Island side, but upon the retreat from 
New York, Sept. 15th, they attempted with other forces, to repel 
the enemy near Kip's Bay only to be put to rout. They were 
militiamen without much discipline. When the brigade marched 
with the main army to White Plains, Colonel Hopkins was still 
with it, but there he fell seriously ill. The fatigue and excite- 
ment of recent movements threw him into a fever from which he 
did not recover. He died Oct. 26, 1776, two days before the 
Battle of White Plains (not on the 27th as stated in the text), a 
soldier having carried him in his arms to a place of safety in 
anticipation of an engagement. 

Colonel Hopkins was the grandfather of Ex-President Mark 
Hopkins of Williams College. 



^2^^^. 




Roll of Honor. 2 1 7 

Samuel Wyllys, 

Colonel, Conthioital A riny^ 

The eldest of the three Wyllys brothers, of Hartford, who 
graduated at Yale, and all of whom served in the Revolution. 
They were the sons of George Wyllys, of the class of 1729, who 
was Secretary of the Colony and State of Connecticut for sixty- 
two years, succeeding his father Hezekiah Wyllys in that office, 
and being in turn succeeded by his son, the above Colonel 
Samuel. The three held the position from 17 12 until 1809, a 
period of ninety-seven years. This old colonial family which 
long enjoyed a high social position is now extinct. 

Colonel Wyllys was born about Jan. i (bapt. Jan. 7), 1738. 
After graduation he spent a few years in England. Returning, 
he was appointed, in 177 1, the first Captain of the First or Hart- 
ford Company of Govetnor's Foot Guards, which still retains its 
organization. May i, 1775, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel 
of the Second or Gen. Spencer's regiment of State Troops, and 
took part at the siege of Boston until its evacuation by the 
enemy. While in that camp, July i, 1775, he was promoted 
Colonel of his regiment. Before leaving Hartford he joined 
with other individuals in planning and providing the expenses of 
the expedition which surprised Ticonderoga in May. On Jan. i, 
1776, he v.-as recommissioned Colonel of his regiment, which re- 
enlisted as the 2 2d Foot to serve for one year on the Continental 
basis. With this command he took part in the New York cam- 
paign, being actively engaged at the battle of Long Island. He 
was in charge of the upper Flatbush pass, near the eastern line 
of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and was forced to retreat in haste 
with all the outguards, when they found themselves outflanked by 
way of the Jamaica pass. He narrowly escaped capture. His 
regiment, in Parson's Brigade, was also caught in the retreat from 
New York, Sept. 15th. After the battle of White Plains, he was 
posted on the Hudson. On Jan. i, 1777, Wyllys was commis- 
sioned Colonel of the new Third Connecticut Continental Line, 
and served with it four years, during which period he was almost 
continuously on duty in the Hudson Highlands or along the 
Connecticut border. In the summer and fall of 1777, his regi- 
ment formed part of Putnam's force Avhich attempted to check 
Clinton's advance up the river. Humphreys refers to him in this 



2i8 Yale in the Revohttion. 

connection in his " Life of Putnam." Early in 1778 his regiment, 
with other troops, began the permanent fortifications at West 
Point. Fort " Wyllys " at that point was doubtless named after 
the Colonel. In the winter of 1778-79, the regiment quartered 
with Putnam's force at Redding, Conn., and in the following 
summer it marched with the Connecticut division towards the 
coast in that State to check Tryon. Wyllys was then in command 
of his brigade — Parsons'. In 1780 it was in camp with Washing- 
ton's army on the Hudson, and took part in the manoeuvres of 
that year. Finally, on Jan. i, 1781, the Colonel retired from the 
service, with many other officers, in consequence of regimental 
consolidations. After the war he became Secretary of State and 
Brigadier-General of Militia. He died June i, 1823, his old 
Governor's Foot Guards being the escort at the funeral. Mem- 
ber Cincinnati Society. 



'^yy^^'M^yid'/ ^S^y 



Class of ly^g. 

John Chandler, 

Colonel, Continental Artny. 

Colonel Chandler was a native of Pomfret, Conn., where he was 
born Jan. 4, 1736. He is said to have been one of eight young 
men from that town who graduated in his class. Subsequently 
he removed to Newtown, Conn., where he practised medicine 
and occasionally preached. 

Chandler was first appointed Major of Silliman's Conn, regi- 
ment, in March, 1776, ordered to fortify New York. June 20th, 
following, he was Lieut.-Colonel under Silliman, and served 
through the New York campaign, on Long Island, at the retreat 
from the city, and battle of White Plains. Jan. i, 1777, he was 
commissioned Colonel of the new Eighth Conn. Continental Line, 
and fought at Germantown. He was in camp at Valley Forge, but 
on March 5, 1778, resigned his colonelcy on account of ill health. 
A pension was allowed him for " diseases contracted from severi- 
ties in the service." His Lieut.-Colonel, Giles Russell, class of 175 1, 



Roll of Hoiwr. 219 

succeeded him. In 1780 the State Council of Safety authorized 
Chandler to superintend the recruiting of the Connecticut Line, 
and he appears in the spring of that year at the Morristown huts 
urging reenlistments and offering new bounties. After the war 
he became Brigadier of Militia, Judge of Fairfield County Court, 
and was also a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention 
in 1788. Later in life he removed to Peacham, Vt., where he 
died March 15, 1796. 




Ebenezer Craft, 

Deputy-Commissary, Massachusetts Troops. 

Colonel Craft was born at Pomfret, Conn., Sept. 23, 1740, his 
father having removed to that place from Newton, Mass. Some 
years before the war he settled at Sturbridge, Mass., and in 1775 
was captain, it is said, of a militia company of troopers at the Bos- 
ton siege ; but there is no record of cavalry at that camp. He 
served in another capacity. On July i, 1775, upon the recom- 
mendation of Col. Learned, he was appointed by the Provincial 
Congress, Deputy Commissary in "the Massachusetts army," 
and seems to have retained the office through the year. Whether 
he served again during the war does not appear, but when Shay's 
rebellion broke out, 1786-7, he took an active part in its suppres- 
sion, as Colonel of the Worcester County regiment of horse. 

In 1 79 1 Col. Craft removed to Vermont and founded the town of 
Craftsbury, where he died. May 24, 1810. He was an active and 
liberal man, being remembered, for instance, at Leicester, Mass., as 
the founder of the town academy where his portrait is preserved. 
In 1785-6 he was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature. 

Fisher Gay, 

Colonel, Connecticut State Troops. 

Colonel Gay's native place was Litchfield, Conn., where he was 
born, Oct. 9, 1733, but after graduation he taught school at Farm- 



2 20 Yale in the Revohction. 

ington and permanently settled there. Becoming a merchant, he 
acquired property and influence, and interested himself in public 
affairs. In 1774 he was placed on the Town Committees of 
Correspondence, Vigilance and Supplies, and was also elected 
Member of the Assembly for the March session in 1775 (Force). 
At that time he was Lieut.-Colonel of Militia. 

Upon the Lexington alarm, Col. Gay closed his store and 
marched to Boston at the head of about a hundred volunteers, 
but did not then remain long in the field. Later, in Jan., 1776, 
Washington needing troops at Boston, while the main force was 
reorganizing. Gov. Trumbull sent him, among others, a regiment 
under Col. Erastus Wolcott, of Windsor, of which Fisher Gay 
was Lieut.-Colonel, with commission dated Jan. 23, 1776. An 
extract from the brief journal he kept, describing his experiences, 
is given on pp. 34-5. With the evacuation of Boston, Gay's regi- 
ment returned to Connecticut. Early in the following summer, 
however, the Colonel again took the field, having been commis- 
sioned June 10, 1776, Colonel of one of the new State regiments 
composing Wadsworth's Brigade, raised for service at New York. 
The brigade was posted in the city along the East River front 
until August, when a portion of it was moved across to the 
Brooklyn lines, where Gen. Greene was in command. By the 
General's orders of Aug. 4th, Col. Gay's regiment was directed 
to make Fort Sterling, on Brooklyn Heights, and the fort on 
Cobble Hill, its alarm posts — four companies at each. On the 
25th it was attached to General Parsons' Brigade, which had 
been doing duty on the picket line, and remained on that side 
until the retreat from Long Island. The Colonel himself, how- 
ever, did not survive these movements. Taken ill, he died in 
camp on or before Aug. 27th, the day of the battle. It seems to be 
uncertain whether he died or was buried on that day. " His zeal 
and self-sacrifice," says President Porter, in his Farmington His- 
torical Discourse, 1872, "were conspicuous. On his sword, which 
is still preserved, are engraved the words, ' Freedom or Death.' " 




Roll of Honor. 221 

Jesse Leavenworth, 

Captain, Conueciiciit. 

Three of the seven sons of Rev. Mark Leavenworth, of Water- 
bury, Conn., class of 1737, graduated at the college and served 
at different periods of the war. They were Jesse, 1759, Mark, 
1771, and Nathan, 1778. The father, a well-known pastor in the 
State, was chaplain for about eight months in the French and 
Indian war, and afterwards heartily encouraged the Revolutionary 
movement. 

Jesse, the eldest son, born at Waterbury, Nov. 22, 1741, was 
settled in business at New Haven when the war broke out. He 
had been appointed, March 16, 1775, Lieutenant of the Second 
or New Haven Company, of Governor's Foot Guards, under 
Captain Benedict Arnold, and, upon the Lexington alarm, 
marched with it to Boston. Gen. Wooster's State regiment was 
organized soon after, and Leavenworth received a First Lieuten- 
antcy in it with commission dating May i, 1775. During the 
summer this command was stationed at Ncav York and in part 
on Long Island (see notice of Gen. Wooster), and then moved 
into the northern department under Schuyler and Montgomery. 
From March to May, 1777, Leavenworth appears on special duty 
at Ticonderoga, and was one of the witnesses against Gen. St. Clair, 
when tried for hastily abandoning that post. He was connected, 
as Captain, with the Quarter Master's department there, and 
his expenses charged " to the Continent, as the service had been 
done by order of the President of Congress to the Governor " of 
Connecticut. Afterwards he purchased lands in Vermont, and 
for a time resided in Cabot township. His death occurred Dec. 
12 (?), 1824, at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. 

Experience Storrs, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, Connecticut Militia. 

Of Mansfield, Conn., where he was born, Sept. 18, 1734. In 
1775 he was a member of the Assembly as well as Lieut.-Col. of 
the 5th militia regiment. Upon the Lexington alarm he col- 
lected five companies and marched from Windham Green, April 
2 2d, as far as Providence. From that point he returned to attend 
the Assembly, first securing powder for Mansfield and fitting out 



222 Yale in the Revolution. 

a wagon-load of provisions for his men at Boston. In his journal 
referred to in the text he makes many interesting entries, viz.: 
" April 27 — Bad weather for Tories in the House ; yet we have 
some." In the May session he was elected Lieut. -Col. of Put- 
nam's regiment, raised with others for the crisis, and on the 27th 
he started for camp with one company. A part of his regiment 
was at Bunker Hill under Putnam, and with the other part he was 
ordered to throw up a work during the night after the battle, to 
prevent the enemy's following up their success by way of Charles- 
town Neck. An extract from his journal appears on p. 20. 
After Jan. i, 1776, Col. Storrs does not appear to have been on 
service out of the State. His regiment was with Washington's 
army a short time in the fall of the year under command of its 
Major. He died July 22, 1801. A sentence in his gravestone 
inscription reads : " He was portly in figure, and friendly in dis- 
position ; an advocate of his country's rights, a lover of order, a 
respectable professor of the Christian Religion." 




Dyar Throop, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, Connecticut Militia. 

Of East Haddam, where he was a practising " barrister at law." 
He was born at Bozrah, Conn., Sept. 17, 1738. During the first 
part of the war he appears as Major and Lieut.-Colonel of militia, 
the latter appointment being conferred in June, 1776. He doubt- 
less turned out with his regiment on alarms, which came frequently. 
In Feb., 1777, he commanded detachments from five regiments 
ordered to New London on one of the alarms. After the war he 
became Brigadier-General of militia. He died June 4, 1789. 

Benjamin Trumbull, D.D., 

Chaplaifi, Connecticut. 

Best known as the author of the first extended history of Con- 
necticut, 1630-1764. He was pastor at North Haven. In 1775 



Roll of Honor. 22; 



he served as Chaplain of Gen. Wooster's regiment in the North- 
ern Department, and in the campaign of 1776 around New York, 
served with Col. William Douglas' regiment in Wadsworth's 
brigade. He sometimes engaged in battle himself, as he had 
opportunity to do on Long Island and again at White Plains. It 
is said that at the latter place he fired with the troops from 
behind walls. Tallmadge states, in his "Memoirs," that the 
Chaplain jumped up behind him on his horse as he was about to 
wade the Bronx River while the enemy were close after them. 
The shock threw both into the stream and they were nearly 
captured. Prof. Silliman adds in Sprague's " Annals," that the 
Chaplain, like Dr. Daggett, turned out on horseback at the New 
Haven raid, July, 1779, and fired at the enemy "from the 
saddle." Dr. Trumbull was born Dec. 19, 1735 ' died Feb. 
2, 1820. 

Class of 1 760. 

Elijah Abel, 

Captain, Connecticut Troops. 

Born at Norwich, Conn., Sept. 18, 1738 ; lived at Fairfield. 
He was commissioned June 10, 1776, Captain in Col. Bradley's 
State regiment, which served through the New York campaign, 
but was not among the officers captured with the regiment at 
Fort Washington. This appears to have been the extent of his 
service outside of the State. In July, 1779, his house at Fairfield 
was burned when the enemy fired the town. At that time he was 
Major in the militia and engaged in recruiting men for the Con- 
necticut Line, under Trumbull's directions. He held local offices 
during and after the war, and became Brigadier-General of the 
militia. His death occurred at Bozrah, June 3, 1809. 




2 24 Yale ill the Revolution. 

Andrew Adams, 

Liciitciiant-Colonel, Connecticut Militia. 

This was Hon. Andrew Adams, of Litchfield, Conn., referred 
to sometimes as a Revolutionary officer. He was Major of militia 
at the outbreak of the war, and later Lieut.-Colonel. References 
indicate that he probably served for a short time under Wooster 
along the Westchester Co. border, but otherwise his services 
were mainly of a civil nature. He ranked high as a patriotic 
citizen and jurist. Before the war he had been King's Attorney 
in Litchfield. He served on important committees in the Assem- 
bly after the war broke out, and was thrice a delegate to Congress ; 
also one of the Governor's assistants. Subsequently he became 
Judge of the Supreme Court and Chief- Justice. A biographical 
notice of him, the earliest we have, appears in Morris' Statistical 
Account of Litchfield. He died Nov. 26, 1797, at the age 
of sixty-one. 

Jared Potter, 

Siirgeon, Connecticut Troops. 

Physician at Wallingford, Conn.; born at East Haven, Sept. 
25, 1742. He served as Surgeon of Gen. Wooster's regiment in 
1775, and was present at the capture of St. Johns and Montreal. 
In the campaign of 1776 he was attached to Col. Wm. Douglas' 
regiment, which took part in the battle of Long Island, the 
retreat from New York, and battle of White Plains. He was also 
with a militia regiment, July 5, 1779, when Tryon invaded New 
Haven. His death occurred July 30, 1810. There is a full 
notice of Dr. Potter in the N. H. Hist. Soc. Papers, Vol. ii., from 
the pen of Dr. Bronson, who says of him : *' In the first decade of 
the present century, Dr. Potter was probably the most celebrated 
and popular physician in the State." ' 

Ammi Ruhamah Robbins, 

Chaplain, Connecticut. 

Pastor at Norfolk, Conn. ; born at Branford, Sept., 1740. He 
was Chaplain of Col. Charles Burrall's Conn, regiment, which 
served in the Northern Department and Canada in the spring of 

' Woodbridge Little, of this class, is mentioned in the sketch of Israel Dick- 
inson, class of 1758. 



Roll of Honor. 225 

1776, and which he joined March 20th. Mr. Robbins left a 
journal of his camp life, which has been published. The hard- 
ships of the winter and ravages of the small-pox made his experience 
a hard one, which affected his health. He was with our force 
when it evacuated Canada. In his journal he mentions Chaplains 
Avery and Ripley, and speaks of the great suffering among the 
soldiers. His death occurred in 1813.' 

Class of 1 76 1. 

Stephen Babcock, 

Major, Rhode Island Militia. 

Of South Kingston, R. I. In May, 1778, Captain of militia, 
and in May, 1779, Major of Col. Dyer's second militia regiment, 
of Kings County. He is said to have been one of the Captains 
in Col. Wm. Barton's Light Infantry battalion, raised in the sum- 
mer of 1779, at request of Gen. Gates, for special service in 
Rhode Island. Major Babcock died Feb. 23, 1789, aged about 
forty-nine. 

Nathan Brownson, 

Hospital Surgeon, Continental Army. 

Doctor, afterwards Governor, Brownson, like Lyman Hall, of 
the class of 1747, went South after graduation, and took up his 
residence in Liberty Co., Georgia. Entering public life he be- 
came, in 1 781, Governor of the State. Before that he had been 
a member of the Provincial and Continental Congress. In 1789- 
91 he was President of the Georgia Senate. For a time, during 
the Revolution, he served in the medical department of the 
South, Congress having appointed him '* Deputy-Purveyor of the 
Hospital" on March 28, 1781, and again on June 6, 1782. He 
died in Nov., 1796.'^ 

' Rev. Dr. Levi Hart, of this class, pastor at Griswold, Conn., visited the 
Boston camps in 1775, and preached to the troops there, but not regularly as 
Chaplain. 

'^ Rev, Jesse Goodell of Pomfret, Conn., and Rev. William Southmayd, of 
this class, native of Waterbury, Conn., are mentioned as chaplains. The latter 
is said to have died " near Lake Champlain, in 1777." 



226 Yale in the Revolution. 

William Coit, 

Captain, Connecticut Troops. 
Captain of Privateers. 

Of New London, Conn., where he was born Nov. 26, 1742. 
The Coit Genealogy describes him as a hearty patriot, "blunt 
and jovial, eccentric, very large in frame, fierce and military in 
his bearing, and noted for wearing a scarlet coat." He was a 
merchant and sea-captain. In May, 1775, he was appointed 
Captain in Col. Parsons* Conn, regiment, and distinguished 
himself, with his company of " independent marines," at the 
battle of Bunker Hill (p. 17). In the fall of the year, acting 
under Washington's directions, he took command of the privateer 
Harrison at Plymouth, and on Nov. 6th brought in two prizes. 
He sailed again on the 23d, but a week later was driven into 
Barnstable by British men-of-war. Returning to camp at the 
close of the year, he retired from land service. In the Webb 
" Reminiscences " there is a humorous, sailor-like letter from his 
pen describing the Harrison. " While I can keep the sea and 
light only on unarmed vessels," he writes, " she will do very well. 
But if obliged to fire both guns of a side at a time, it would split 
her open from her gunwale to her keelson." Another reference 
appears on p. 32. On July 11, 1776, Captain Coit was appointed, 
by Gov. Trumbull and Council, to the command of the "colony 
ship-of-war," Oliver Cromwell, building at Saybrook. Some diffi- 
culties arose, however, and he was discharged from the command, 
April 14, 1777. He is not mentioned again until Arnold's attack 
on New London in 1781, when he was taken prisoner. The date 
of his exchange does not appear. He is supposed to have died 
while on a visit to the South. The Hartford Courant for May 17, 
1802, notices the death of a William Coit on Feb. 16, of that year, 
at Burlington, Vt. 

Daniel Hitchcock, 

Colonel, Continental Army. 

Of Colonel Hitchcock we know too little. His career was 
brief, but long enough to mark him as a man of uncommon worth 
— a type of the nobler characters of that day. His ancestry is 
traced to Luke and Elizabeth (Gibbons) Hitchcock, who settled 



Roll of Honor. 227 

at Wethersfield, Conn., in 1644, and whose grandsons, Ebenezer 
and Peletiah, subsequently settled at Springfield, Mass. Peletiah 
was the father of Rev. Dr. Enos Hitchcock, graduate of Harvard, 
1767, and afterwards a well-known chaplain in the Revolution. 
Ebenezer and Mary (Sheldon) Hitchcock were the parents of 
Daniel, the subject of this sketch. He (Daniel) was born at 
Springfield, Feb. 15, 1739, ^^ thirteenth child in the family. 
Among his brothers, and twenty-one years his senior, was the 
Rev. Dr. Gad Hitchcock, graduate of Harvard, 1743. 

Upon graduation, Daniel Hitchcock studied law at Northampton, 
and in 1771-72 appears on the roll of the thirty or more attorneys 
practising in the Supreme Court of Mass. Soon after, for reasons 
not stated, he removed to Providence, R. I., where, at the opening 
of the Revolution, he was well established in his profession and 
making his mark. He first appears in a public capacity in Dec, 
1774, when the R. I. Assembly appointed him on a commission 
to revive the military laws of the colony. On April 22, 1775, he 
was elected Lieut.-Colonel of the Providence Train of Artillery, 
and in May following was made Colonel of the Second or Provi- 
dence regiment in the R. I. " Army of Observation," as it was 
called, which went to Boston under Gen. Greene and served 
through the siege. Dr. Stiles speaks of meeting him in camp 
there (p. 24). In the campaign of 1776 at New York, Hitchcock 
was stationed on the Long Island side, and his regiment helped 
to build the works. What part he took there before and during 
the battle appears on pp. 40, 47. His regiment was known as 
the Eleventh Foot, on the Continental Establishment for 1776. It 
accompanied the army in all its movements and retreats down 
through the battles of Trenton and Princeton, where, as stated 
in the text, it performed capital service. Hitchcock was senior 
officer in the brigade at the time, Greene being Division Com- 
mander, and he led it with signal success, especially at Princeton, 
as described on p. 60. The army encamped at Morristown, 
where, overcome by the fatigue and exertions of the recent move- 
ments, the brave Colonel died, Jan. 13, 1777. He was buried 
with military honors on the following day, the Delaware and 
Philadelphia Infantry Companies, under the command of Captain 
Thomas Rodney, being detailed as the funeral escort. In his 
MSS. journal the Captain says, Jan. 14th : "This day the Infan- 



228 Yale in the Revohttion, 

try was ordered to bury Gen. Hitchcock with the honors of war, 
and as he was a Continental officer I took the command myself." 
He speaks of the bier being followed by " the mourners, then the 
officers, and then the battalion in platoons of lo in open order." 
Three vollies were fired over the grave. 

The Colonel left a brief will, which was witnessed on Jan. lo, 
1777, at Morristown, the witnesses stating that ** through exces- 
sive pain and weakness " the testator was unable to sign the in- 
strument. The will reads : " I Give one Half of my Estate to 
the Benevolent Congregational Society in Providence — The Re- 
mainder to be equally divided among my Bretheren." This was 
sworn to before Gov. Livingston, Jan. 15th, at Morristown, and 
on the 19th March, 1777, recorded at Providence. Among the 
items of the estate was a gold watch presented to Col. Hitchcock 
by Gen. Greene, as a mark of the latter's friendship and respect, 
and which is now in the hands of one of the Colonel's collateral 
descendants. Before his death the Colonel had been appointed 
to the command of one of the two R. I. regiments of the new 
Continental Line. He died unmarried. 




Class of iy62. 

Hezekiah Bissell, 

Captain, Connecticut Troops. 

Son of the Rev. Hezekiah Bissell, class of 1733, long pastor at 
Bloomfield, Conn. He was born April 24, 1743, and settled at 
Windham as a lawyer. Without doubt he was the officer of his 
name who was Captain in the 5th militia regiment which rein- 
forced Washington's army in the fall of 1776 — that regiment 
being from Windham County. There was also a State Commissary 
by his name from the same county. The Woodbridge family 
record states that he served in the Revolution. He died at 
Windsor, 1808. 



Roll of Honor. 229 

Jedidiah Chapman, 

Chaplain^ Neiv Jersey Troops. 

Pastor at " Newark Mountain," or Orange, New Jersey, during 
the Revolution. His parish was in an exposed section and the 
Tories threatened to capture him. During a part of the campaign 
of 1776, he served as Chaplain of Col. Martin's New Jersey regi- 
ment in Washington's army, and may have been with it in camp 
on the Long Island front. He was born at East Haddam, Ct., 
Sept. 27, 1741, and died in central New York, May, 22, 1813, 
His name appears by error as Hezekiah Chapman, on p. 38. 

JosiAH Hart, 

Surgeon, Connecticut. 

Physician at New Britain, Conn, ; born April 28, 1742. He 
studied medicine with Dr. Potter of Wallingford, class of 1760, 
and July, 1775, was appointed Surgeon's-Mate of Col. Parsons' 
Connecticut regiment at the Boston siege. On Jan. i, 1776, he 
appears as full Surgeon of the regiment, and probably served 
with it in the New York campaign through the year. There 
is no further record in his case. After the war he was known 
as a prominent physician both at home and at Marietta, Ohio, 
where he settled later in life. He died at Lowell, O., Aug., 
1812. 



William Nichols, 



Paymaster, Continental Army. 



The graduate of this name was undoubtedly the lawyer and 
officer, William Nichols, resident of Hartford. He formed one 
of the small party that went from that city to contrive and assist 
in the capture of Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775. In 1776 he was 
Lieutenant and Paymaster in Col. Heman Swift's Conn, regi- 
ment in the Northern Department, and on Jan. i, 1777, he was 
commissioned with the same rank in Swift's Seventh Regiment 
of the new Continental Line. The command fought at Ger- 
mantown, wintered at Valley Forge, and was with the army 
at Monmouth. The rolls showed that he retired from the 
service in July, 1778. After that he seems to have practised 



2 30 Yale in the Revolution, 

his profession at Hartford, where he died, Friday, Oct. 13, 1792, 
aged fifty-one. He was buried on the following day. Member 
Cincinnati Soc. 

Amos Northrop, 

Lieutenant and Commissary, Connecticut. 

Of New Milford, Conn., where he was born, Dec. 19, 1742. 
He was First Lieutenant in Col. Samuel Whiting's Conn, regi- 
ment, raised for service on the Westchester line during the 
winter of 1776-77. Later, according to family tradition, he acted 
as Commissary, and died of consumption hastened by exertions 
in the service — his death occurring March 19, 1779. His grave is 
at New Milford. 

John Paterson, 

Brigadier-General, Continental Army. 

Few officers were more closely identified with the army than 
Gen. Paterson — his service being continuous and active for over 
eight years and a half. His native place was New Britain, Conn., 
then one of the societies of the town of Farmington, where he 
was born 1743-4. His father was major of provincial troops in 
1762, at the siege of Havanna, and died there of yellow fever. 
About 1769 the general removed to Lenox, Mass., and practised 
law. He was sent as a delegate to the first Provincial Congress 
in 1774, and again to the second, which met at Cambridge, Feb- 
ruary I, 1775. He was at the time colonel of militia, and his 
regiment was among the first at the front after the Lexington 
alarm. May 27, 1775, he was commissioned colonel in the Pro- 
vincial service, and his regiment took post at redoubt No. 3, 
northeast of Cambridge. He served through the siege, and in 
1776, on the evacuation of Boston, he was ordered to Canada, 
where, in May, we find him in command at Montreal. In the 
fall of the year he marched down, with others, to reinforce Wash- 
ington, who was retreating through the Jerseys, and took part in 



Roll of Honor, 



2X\ 



the battles of Trenton and Princeton. He was then appointed 
colonel of one of the new regiments of the Massachusetts Conti- 
nental line, with Springfield as the place of rendezvous. On Feb. 
2 1 St, of that year, however, he was promoted by Congress Briga- 
dier-General of the Continental Army, and as such returned to 
Ticonderoga, under St. Clair's command. That post abandoned 
he joined Gates' force with his Massachusetts brigade, and was 
present in the field all through Burgoyne's campaign. After the 
surrender he once more joined Washington, and wintered at 
Valley Forge, 1777-78. There he superintended a portion of the 
defences, as stated on p. 84. At Monmouth, June 29, 1779, he 
appears in command of the three Massachusetts brigades on 
Washington's main line, but not closely engaged ; then on the 
Hudson and at West Point, where he was post commander two 
winters. In Oct., 1780, after sitting on the court that tried 
Andre, Paterson wrote a long letter to Gen. Heath (Mass. archives) 
complaining that the country was not supporting the army prop- 
erly, and suggesting the best methods of enlisting recruits for the 
war. As for himself, he declared that he was " ruined " in cir- 
cumstances, and would be compelled to resign his commission in 
the following year. He remained, however, to render further 
good service. One of his letters of this period, 1780, appears on 
p. 121. 

In 1781, '82, and '83, he was generally in the Highlands. He 
signs himself, in March of the latter year, commander of the left 
wing of the Newburg cantonment. On June 24, 1783, he received 
orders to march with the ist, 2d, and 3d Massachusetts regiments 
to Philadelphia, where a mutiny of old soldiers broke out. There 
he presided over the court which tried and punished the offend- 
ers. Returning to the Hudson, he retired from the service in 
December, 1783. 

After the war Gen. Paterson resided in Lenox until about 1789, 
when he moved to Lisle, Broome County, N. Y. Before that he 
had become Major-General of the 9th Division of Massachusetts 
Militia, and in 1787 assisted in the suppression of Shay's rebel- 
lion. In his new home he became influential, went to the N. Y. 
Legislature, and from 1803 to 1805 was a member of Congress. 
April 2, 1806, he was appointed Chief Justice of Broome County 
Court of Common Pleas, an office which he appears to have been 



232 Yale ill the Revolution. 

holding at the time of his death, July 19, 1808. Member Mass. 
Cincinnati Soc. 

Thomas Skinner, 

Surgeon, Continental Army. 

Of Colchester, Conn., where he was born May 31, 1741. He 
was commissioned March 20, 1779, surgeon of the Eighth Conn. 
Continental Line, and continued in service after January, 1781, 
when he was surgeon of the Fifth. He probably remained through 
the war, and then returned to Colchester, where he died Aug. 7, 
1796. Member Conn. Cincinnati Soc. 

Whitman Welch, 

Chaplain, Massachusetts. 

Pastor at Williamstown, Mass., from 1765 to 1776. He was a 
native of Milford, Conn. In the early part of 1776 he officiated 
as chaplain of one of the militia regiments of Western Massachu- 
setts which were sent to reinforce our defeated army before Que- 
bec. The small-pox prevailing in the camp, he contracted the 
disease, and died there in March, 1776.' 

Class of 1763. 

Ebenezer Baldwin, 

Chaplain, Connecticut. 

Pastor at Danbury, Conn.; born at Norwich, July 3, 1745. 
He had been tutor at Yale and was highly esteemed as an instruc- 
tor and minister. Chancellor Kent, who fitted for college under 
him, speaking of his worth and public spirit, says, in his ^. B. I\. 
address, 1831 : 

' Jabez Swift, of this class, is mentioned as having died " in camp near Bos- 
ton, 1775." He may have been one of the early volunteers after the Lexington 
alarm. His native place was Kent, Conn.,, but he had settled as a lawyer at 
Salisbury. 



Roll of Honor. 233 

" Mr. Baldwin took an enlightened and active interest in the 
rise and early progress of the American Revolution. ... In 
the impending and gloomy campaign of 1776 he was incessant 
in his efforts to cheer and animate his townsmen to join the 
militia, which were called out for the defence of New York. To 
give weight to his eloquent exhortations he added that of his 
heroic example. He went voluntarily as a chaplain to one of the 
militia regiments. His office was peaceful, but he nevertheless 
arrayed himself in military armor. I was present when he firmly 
and cheerfully bid adieu to his devoted parishioners and affection- 
ate pupils." 

Mr. Baldwin volunteered to officiate as chaplain of Col. J. P. 
Cooke's militia regiment from Danbury, which served at New 
York for three or four months in 1776. He joined it in August, 
and was with the troops during some of the trying scenes of the 
campaign. His experience, however, was cut short by camp dis- 
ease, which terminated fatally. Returning home, he died Oct. i, 
1776, greatly mourned by his people. 

Vine Elderkin, 

Captain^ Continental Army. 

Of Windham, Conn., where he was born Sept. 11, 1745. He 
first appeared as captain in Col. John. Douglass' State Regiment 
raised for service in the Northern Department, with commission 
dating June 20, 1776. The regiment went into the field under 
another colonel, Samuel Mott, and served during the summer 
and fall of 1776 at Ticonderoga. While doing garrison duty and 
working on the fortifications, the command suffered from the 
small-pox, and late in November it returned to Connecticut. 
Elderkin then, upon recommendation, entered the Continental 
Army, and was commissioned Jan. i, 1777, Captain in Col. 
Swift's Seventh Conn. Regt. With this he doubtless served in 
Pennsylvania at the battle of Germantown. On Nov. 2d follow- 
ing he resigned. Later, in 1778, an officer of the same name was 
engaged in the Commissary Department in Massachusetts. 

Before the war Captain Elderkin had been living at Wyoming, 
Penn., where his father, Col. Jedediah Elderkin, was interested as 
one of the proprietors in the Susquehanna Co. He died at Green- 



234 Yale in the Revolution, 

bush, N. Y., Aug. 15, 1800. His brother, Bela, class of 1767, 
served in the navy. 




Ebenezer Gray, 



Lieutenant-Colonel, Continental Army. 



Col. Gray was born at Windham, Conn., July 26, 1743, and 
practised law there before the war. He seems to have intended 
settling at Wyoming, Penn., when the crisis called him into the 
service. He became Second Lieutenant in Putnam's regiment, 
May I, 1775, and served through the siege of Boston, taking part, 
it is said, in the battle of Bunker Hill. January i, 1776, he was 
promoted First Lieutenant and Quartermaster of Col. Durkee's 
regiment, and marched with it to New York. There Gen. Par- 
sons appointed him, August 31, 1776, his Brigade-Major, a posi- 
tion he retained until the spring of 1777. He was doubtless in the 
retreat from New York and other affairs. In the new Continental 
Army he became Major of the Sixth Connecticut, Col. Meigs, 
commission dating January i, 1777, and served in Putnam's com- 
mand along the Hudson during the Burgoyne campaign (not in 
Pennsylvania as stated on p. 74). On October 15, 1778, he was 
promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventh Regiment, Col. 
Swift's, and thereafter served in the main army along the High- 
lands and in New Jersey. In the fall of '78, he was stationed at 
Norwalk, Ct., when he obtained information of the enemy's doings 
from Long Island, which he reported to Gen. Gates. He once 
took a party himself to Lloyd's Neck, attacked some Tories, and 
brought off fifteen prisoners. One of his tours of duty is indi- 
cated in the following: "Camp Mandeville, August 12, 1779 — 
Morning Orders 7 o'clock — Four Companies to be immediately 
detached from the Connecticut Line to march with light packs 
and Blankets with two days provisions. Lieut. -Col° Gray to com- 
mand the Detachment." At the Morristown huts, during the cold 
winter of 1779-80, he was for a time in command of his brigade, 
and in the spring was posted on the advanced lines. In 1781 he 



Roll of Honor. 235 

was assigned to the Fourth Regiment, and in 1782 to the Third. 
For an extract from one of his letters, see p. 128. He retired 
June, 1783. Member Conn. Cincinnati Soc. 

After the war Col. Gray resumed his law practice at Windham 
and held the office of Collector of Excise for a few years. He 
died June 18, 1795. 

William Judd, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Of Farmington, Conn., where he was born July 20, 1743, and 
where he practised as " barrister-at-law " until about 1774-75 
when he went to Westmoreland, Penn. He was there in Dec, 

1776, Avhen he accepted a Captaincy in Col. Wyllys' Third regi- 
ment of the new Connecticut Line, commission dating Jan. i, 

1777. He served four years, mainly on the Hudson, at West 
Point, and in expeditions. Occasionally he appears as Judge 
Advocate of a court-martial. He retired Jan. i, 1781, and re- 
sumed the practice of law at Farmington, also representing the 
town several sessions in the Assembly. Politics interested him, 
and he became a leader in the Jeffersonian republican party. 
Among other questions he agitated was the sufficiency of the 
Constitution of Connecticut, no new one having been adopted 
since the Declaration of Independence. A Convention met at 
New Haven, Aug. 29, 1804, to move for the adoption of one, over 
which Judd presided as Chairman. As he was Justice of the 
Peace, the Connecticut Legislature removed him, with three 
others, from office for thus questioning the State's Constitutional 
powers. He proposed to make his own defence before that body 
at New Haven, but ill health preventing he put his brief into print 
for general circulation. His strength failing he returned to 
Farmington on the morning of Nov. 13, 1804, and died there at 
II o'clock on the same evening. On the following day his 
friends issued his address with this introduction : 



236 Yale in the Revolution. 

These are to you the people, the last words of a respectable individual, lately 
of your number, of a man, who served for a long time in the characters of a 
justice of the peace, of an officer of the revolutionary war, of a representative of 
his town, of a master of the grand lodge of Connecticut, and of Chairman of 
the Republican Convention. 

In the course of a busy life, spent in political councils, and in extensive prac- 
tice at the bar. Major Judd had the means of understanding the principles of our 
i-evolution, and the history and true interests of this State. With uniform integ- 
rity and firmness, he asserted his political opinions in opposition to the powers 
of the State, and this last opinion, for which he was removed, was expressed at 
a time when he had strong presentiments that his end was near. He was 
anxious to place before the people the reasons which supported him in the 
declaration that this Stale has no Constitution of civil government. . . . The 
last thing which he felt on this side the grave, was a removal from office, 
for a declaration of the truth of which he had no doubt. 

Major Judd was a member of the Conn. Cincinnati Society. 



,;^^^,4^(^^,^^^ 



Hezekiah Ripley, D.D., 

Chaplaiyi, Connecticut. 

Pastor at Green's Farms, Conn., where his house and church 
were burned by the enemy during the invasion of July, 1779. He 
was Chaplain of Silliman's brigade during a part of the campaign 
around New York in 1776. A statement from his pen briefly de- 
scribing his experiences on Sept. 15th, the day of the retreat from 
the city, and the narrow escape of the command, appears in Da- 
vis' "Life of Burr." In 1777 he was appointed Chaplain of Col. 
Chandler's Eighth Connecticut Line, but he never joined it. Dr. 
Ripley was born at Windham, Conn., Febr. 3, 1743, and died 
Dec. 1831.* 

' Rev. Ephraim Judson, of this class, was invited to become Chaplain of Col. 
Andrew Ward's Connecticut regiment in the summer of 1776 at New York, but 
whether he accepted does not appear. He was for some time pastor at Shef- 
field, Mass. 

Rev. Samuel Woodbridge is also mentioned as Chaplain. He was first at 
Eastbury and then at West Harland, Conn. 



Roll of Ho7ior. 237 

Sanford Kingsbury, 

Captain, Connecticut State Troops. 

A native of Norwich, Conn., who afterwards lived at Claremont, 
N. H. He was, doubtless, the Captain Kingsbury who belonged 
to the State regiment, commanded by Colonel Enos, which served 
a short time in Rhode Island in 1776-77. Probably he served at 
other points on alarms during the war. He died in 1833. 

Ebenezer Moseley, 

Captain, Connecticut State Troops. 

A native of Windham County, Conn., born Feb. 19, 1741. He 
lived in "Canada Society," and, as stated on p. 15, commanded a 
company from that place, which organized for service on the 
Lexington alarm. The company joined Putnam's regiment, and 
went to the Boston camp, where Captain Moseley took part in the 
battle of Bunker Hill. He probably remained there through the 
year. In the early part of 1777 he turned out again, and served 
under Gen. Spencer in Rhode Island. After the war he became 
Colonel of the 5 th Militia Regiment. By profession he was a 
minister. An interesting sketch of him appears in the " Moseley " 
Genealogy. He died in 1825. 

Class of 1 764. 

Peter Colt, 

Dcputy-Coinniissary-General, Continental Army. 

Col. Colt was the youngest son of Benjamin and Miriam (Harris) 

Colt, of Lyme, Conn., where he was born March 28, 1744. His 

great-grandfather, John Colt, came from the west of England, 

about 1634, and settled at Windsor, Conn., in 1637-8, whence his 

eldest son, John, subsequently moved down the river to Lyme. 

It was Peter Colt's intention to follow a profession, but in his 

junior year he, with about eighty other students, was poisoned at 

breakfast, which so affected his health that he entered into active 

business life.' In 1768 he formed a partnership at New Haven 

'This poisoning case is noticed in the sketch of Rev. Dr. Isaac Lewis, class of 
1765, in Spragiie's " Annals of the American Pulpit." Trouble between the 
students and certain French people in New Haven led to an act of revenge on the 
part of the latter. One of their number is said to have had access to the college 
kitchen, and put arsenic into the food for " Commons." Many of the students 
became seriously ill, and a few died. 



238 Yale in the Revolution. 

with Capt. Hezekiah Howe in the West India trade, which was 
kept up until 1775. 

Colt took an early interest in public affairs. On May 23, 1774, 
he was appointed one of the New Haven Town Committee of 
Correspondence. About May i, 1775, he became military secre- 
tary to Gen. Wooster, but his partner soon dying, he resigned the 
position to settle his business affairs. While thus engaged, he ac- 
cepted a proposition from his friend, Col. Jonathan Fitch, class 
of 1748, resident Commissary of New Haven Co., to assist him 
in his duties. During this connection he visited the Boston camps. 
While at Watertown, Mass., Sept. 11, 1775, he sent a spirited letter 
to young Aaron Burr, whose friends he knew at New Haven, and 
who was just starting off with Arnold on the Quebec expedition. 
"You must now think," he wrote him, " only on the bright side, 
and make the least of every disagreeable circumstance attending 
your march. Let no difficulty discourage you. The enterprise is 
glorious, and, if it succeeds, will redound to the honor of those 
who planned and executed it." In the following year (1776) he 
acted occasionally as agent for Col. Joseph Trumbull, Commissary- 
General of the Continental forces, going up the Hudson River, for 
instance, in September, to purchase flour and provisions. On 
Aug. 9, 1777, Congress appointed Colt Deputy-Commissary Gen- 
eral of Purchases for the Eastern Department, which included 
New England and New York east of the Hudson — the most im- 
portant division that fell to any deputy. His duties here were 
constant and exacting, their nature being indicated in his letters 
on pp. 96-7 ; and they also led him into an intimate acquaintance 
with leading men in Congress and the army. With General 
Greene and Commissary-General Jeremiah Wadsworth, he was on 
confidential terms. When Congress adopted the policy, 1780-81, 
of supplying the army by contract, both Wadsworth and Colt 
engaged to supply the French troops under Rochambeau, and 
served them until their departure. 

Col. Colt married Sarah, the eldest daughter of Daniel Lyman, 
Esq., of New Haven, October 19, 1776. About the middle of 
June, 1778, he moved his office and family to Hartford, but 
intended to return at the close of the war. He found it impossible, 
however, to leave Col. Wadsworth, with whom he formed close 
business arrangements, and he remained in Hartford. From 1789 



Roll of Honor. 



239 



to 1793 he was Treasurer of Connecticut. In the spring of '93 he 
resigned, and removed to Paterson, N. J., to take charge of the 
affairs of the " Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures," a 
corporation that had been chartered by the State of New Jersey, 
through the efforts of Col. Alexander Hamilton and Judge Boudi- 
not, of Newark, both of whom had long been his personal friends. 
In 1796-7 he went to Rome, N. Y., to superintend the works 
of the " Western Inland Lock Navigation Company " (the fore- 
runner of the Erie Canal), and upon their completion settled on 
a large farm at that place. In 1810 he returned to Paterson, 
N. J., and purchased an interest in the " Society " mentioned above. 
His sons Roswell and John were already established in business 
there. Col. Colt died at Paterson, March 16, 1824,' Member 
Conn. Cincinnati Soc. 




Samuel Ely, 

Volunteer. 

A native of Lyme, Conn., born Nov. 6, 1740. He became a 
minister and preached for some time at Somers. During the war 
and after he appears in Vermont and Massachusetts. It is cer- 
tain that he was at the battle of Bennington as a volunteer, the 
fact being brought out in a published charge by one Williams that 
he was engaged in plundering after the action. A Court of In- 
quiry at Bennington reported, Sept. 8, 1778, as follows : 

" These certify that Mr. Samuel Ely, the Preacher, who was in the two 
bloody Battles at Benington, and behaved with the greatest Honor, Valiantry, 
and Courage in both Actions . . . did, when desired, appear before the 
Court of Enquiry and make a handsome Defence relative to the Plunder he had 
taken ; as he said what he had taken was at the point of the Sword, as a Volun- 
teer for his groaning, bleeding Country ; and he further said that he supported 
himself and lived upon his own money while in Camp, and was at no charge to 
his Country. And the Court being fully satisfied with what he did and what he 
said, they never ordered Mr. Ely to be advertised." 

' The writer is indebted to Mr. E. Boudinot Colt, of Paterson, N. J., grand- 
son of Col. Colt, for most of the facts inserted in this sketch. 



240 Yale in the Revolution. 



The Committee of Safety of Wilmington, Vt., also published a 
card, in which they say : " We all know that General Stark said 
if he had five Thousand such Men as Mr. Ely he would drive 

Burgoyne and his army to the D . Besides, we are sorry that 

Mr. Ely should be so treated by Williams and some others, when 
no man could exert himself more for his distressed Country 
than he has done in Various Instances." These papers appear 
in the New London Gazette, Nov. 13, 1778. 

After the war Mr. Ely agitated socialistic views, got into 
trouble, defied the authorities in Massachusetts, was denounced 
as a " mobber," and arrested. What became of him does not 
appear. He is supposed to have died in 1795. 



Chauncey Whittlesey, 



Purchasing Clothier, Connecticut. 



Merchant at Middletown, Conn. ; born Oct. 27, 1746. He was 
licensed to preach, but went into business on account of his 
health. During the Revolution he was active as Purchasing 
Clothier for the State. His name frequently appears in the rec- 
ords, one item in the proceedings of the Governor's Council for 
Feb. 8, 1777, for example, running as follows: "Chauncey 
Whittlesey, as Commissary, is directed to deliver to Col. Wyllys, 
clothes made, or such quantity of cloth, &c., in his hands, for 
soldiers' clothing as Col. Wyllys should need for the soldiers in 
his regiment. Mr. Whittlesey also ordered to make soldiers' 
coats and trim the same in uniform, as Col. Wyllys should direct." 
He died March 14, 181 2.' 




' Jeremiah Hedges, of this class, of Southampton, L. I., is said to have been 
a Surgeon in the Revolution, and Enoch White, of South Haijley, Mass., a 
Lieutenant. 



Roll of Honor. 241 

Class of 1765. 



Manasseh Cutler, 

Chaplain, Massachusetts. 

Dr. Cutler's name is associated most prominently with the Or- 
dinance of 1787, providing for an organized and free Western 
territory, and the purchase and settlement of Ohio lands. He 
was a man of varied talents — a pastor who interested himself in 
public affairs, went to Congress, and also had a relish for scien- 
tific research. His native place was Killingly, Conn. — date of 
birth May 3, 1742. He settled over the church at Hamilton, 
Mass., and in July, 1778, volunteered as Chaplain of Gen. Tit- 
comb's brigade of Mass. militia, which took part in Sullivan's 
operations against the enemy near Newport, R. I. This appears 
from his own diary recently published by the late Rev. Dr. Stone, 
of Providence, in " Our French Allies." The journal contains 
much interesting and valuable information respecting the move- 
ment, but unfortunately ends before the battle of Rhode Island, 
Aug. 28th, was fought. He is said to have been present in the 
action. His later efforts in behalf of Western settlers and his 
appearance in public life, made him a prominent figure of the 
time. He died at Hamilton, July 23, 1823. 

Samuel Eells, 

Captain^ Volunteers. 

Mr, Eells was pastor at Branford, Conn., from 1769 to 1808. 
While Washington was retreating through New Jersey in Nov.- 
Dec, 1776, the Conn. Legislature called for volunteers to go to 
his relief. Companies were formed and marched with haste to 
the Hudson. Mr. Eells announced the call to his parishioners 
from his pulpit and invited all who would volunteer in the emer- 
gency to assemble on the green. Many did so, a company 
was formed, and Mr. Eells elected captain. They soon were on 
the march, but the favorable turn in affairs after Trenton and 
Princeton rendered any lengthened stay in the field unnecessary. 
Mr. Eells died April 22, 1808, in the 64th year of his age. 



242 Yale in the Revolution. 

RoswELL Grant, 

Captain, Connecticut State Troops. 

A merchant of East Windsor, Conn. ; born there March 3, 
1746. His father, Captain Ebenezer Grant, descendant of Mat- 
thew Grant, who came to America in 1630, had built up a flourish- 
ing business in the place, to which Roswell succeeded. 

His Revolutionary services consisted of occasional tours of 
duty within and beyond the State. He was a Captain in Col. 
Roger Enos' Regiment raised, with five others, early in 1778, for 
the defence of the State, and " to be held in constant readiness, 
to march on the shortest notice, wherever the militia were liable 
to be called." In the summer following, about the time of the 
battle of Monmouth, when the enemy reoccupied New York with 
their entire force, the regiment was ordered to the Hudson and 
arrived there July 3d. It was stationed at Fort Clinton, the rolls 
showing that Captain Grant was present with his company. This 
was a three months' tour. Still earlier in the year he was ordered 
to march " without delay " with a detachment, and report to Gen. 
Spencer at Providence, R. I., which place the British were threat- 
ening. For this service, which was to continue two months, Jan- 
uary and February, the Governor's Council allowed Captain 
Grant's Company ;^ioo. Doubtless he was called out in a simi- 
lar way at different times both earlier and later in the war. 

In 1783 the Captain married Flavia daughter of Gen. Erastus 
Wolcott, of Windsor. He was known afterwards as Major Grant, 
and was elected several terms to the State Assembly. His death 
occurred Dec. 31, 1834. 




Thomas Grosvenor, 

Lieut. -Col. Commandant, Continental Army. 

A resident of Pomfret, Conn., and for many years after the 
war Chief Justice of Windham Co. Court. He served in the 



Roll of Honor, 243 

Revolution nearly eight years and made an honorable record, 
beginning with a prompt response to the Lexington alarm. May 
I, 1775, he was commissional Lieutenant in Putnam's regiment 
and was closely engaged at Bunker Hill. (See his letter, p. 19.) 
Trumbull, the artist, gives him a conspicuous place in his paint- 
ing of the battle. Jan, i, 1776, he became Captain in Col. Dur- 
kee's regiment, and served with it to the close of the Boston siege. 
Marching to New York he was stationed much of the time at 
Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. He was present at the battle of 
Long Island with a party under Knowlton, narrowly escaping 
capture, and was again with Knowlton's " Rangers " in the suc- 
cessful affair of Harlem Heights, Sept. 16, 1776. Returning to 
his regiment he participated in the victories of Trenton and 
Princeton. In the new Continental Army he received pro- 
motion, being commissioned Major of the Third Regt. under 
Col. VVyllys, Jan, i, 1777, and served with it on the Hud- 
son. March 13, 1778, he was promoted Lieut.-Colonel of the 
Third. By general orders, July 11, 1779, Gen. Heath appointed 
him Inspector of the Connecticut Division, which position be re- 
tained until the spring of i7'82. When Washington marched to 
Virginia he received the additional appointment, Aug. 19, 1781, 
of Deputy- Adjutant-General to that part of the army left to 
guard the Hudson. At the close of the campaign he was re- 
lieved by Heath's orders as follows : 

" Head Quarters, Highlands, Dec. i, 1781. 

"... Lieut. Col''. Grosvenor finding it difficult from the remote 
situation of the division of which he is Inspector to do the duty of D. A. G. of 
this army, Lt. Col", Hull [Y. C. 1772,] is appointed to that office and is to be 
obey'd and respected accordingly. The Gen', requests Lieut. Col". Grosvenor 
to accept his thanks for the great propriety, and attention with which he dis- 
charged the important duties of the office." 

On May 29, 1782, Grosvenor was promoted Lieut.-Colonel 
Commandant (a rank equivalent to Colonel) of the First Conn. 
Regt., and remained with it on the Hudson until Jan. i, 1783, 
when he retired from the service. He had been a " barrister " 
before the war, and resuming his profession attained judicial 
positions. Washington put up at his house at Pomfret on his 




244 Yale in the Revolution, 

New England tour in 1791. The Colonel died in 1825. Mem- 
ber Conn. Cincinnati Soc. His valuable order-books are still 
preserved, and have been consulted in the preparation of these 
sketches. 

Isaac Lewis, D.D., 

Chaplaifi^ Connecticut. 

Pastor at Greenwich, Conn.; born at Stratford, Jan. 21, 1746. 
He was Chaplain of Col. Bradley's regiment from July, 1776, to 
the close of the year, and was with it in camp at Bergen and 
other points near New York, He was invited to the chaplaincy 
of Bradley's Fifth Continental Regt. in 1777, but declined the 
appointment. Rev. Ichabod Lewis, of the same class, was ap- 
pointed in his place, but his name is not on the rolls of the Fifth. 
Dr. Lewis died Aug. 27, 1840, in his ninety-fifth year. 

Theodore Sedgwick, 

Major and Aid-de-Camp, Massachusetts. 

Prominent as statesman and jurist from 1789 to 1813. He 
figured in the State Constitutional Conventions after the Revolu- 
tion, went to Congress, and from 1796 to 1799 was United States 
Senator. He was born near Hartford, Conn., in the spring of 
1746, read law with Col. Mark Hopkins at Great Barrington, and 
settled in Stockb ridge. Early in 1776 he became Military Secre- 
tary, with the rank of Major, to Gen. John Thomas, Continental 
Major-General, and went with him to Canada in May of that 
year. He was one of the council of officers who advised the 
abandonment of the Quebec investment. Gen. Thomas died in 
June, and Maj. Sedgwick retired from service. He was active, 
however, on local committees, and during the Burgoyne cam- 
paign appears to have been a volunteer aid. In the Trumbull 
MSS. there is a note from Col. Burrall, of Connecticut, stating 
that he was met by Maj. Sedgwick " with verbal orders from Gen. 
Lincoln " to stop all the militia on the road to Bennington after 



Roll of Honor, 



245 



that battle. At the time of his death at Boston, Jan. 24, 1813, he 
was Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. 




Robert Walker, 



Captain, Continental Artillery. 



Captain Walker and his younger brother, Joseph, class of 1774, 
also a Captain in the Revolution, were sons of Hon. Robert 
Walker, of Stratford, Conn., who graduated in 1730. 

Robert, born at Stratford in 1745, joined the army at an early 
date, and served nearly to the close of the war. He was ap- 
pointed Second Lieutenant of Col. Waterbury's State Regiment 
May I, 1775, which went to the northern department for that 
year. In 1776 a regiment on the Continental basis was raised in 
Connecticut for service in the same department, under Col. 
Samuel Elmore, and Walker was appointed one of its captains 
April 15th. With his company he was in garrison at Ft. Schuyler 
on the Mohawk from October, 1776, until February following, when 
he was offered a position in Col. Lamb's artillery regiment to be 
raised in New York and Connecticut. In his letter of acceptance, 
dated Ft. Schuyler, Feb. 11, 1776, Walker writes to Lamb, who 
was then living at Stratford : 

" Your Honour informs that if I am not too deeply engaged, and will accept 
of a company under your Hon" Command, it shall be at my service, with the 
privilege of appointing my First Lieut. & 3 Second Lieuts. Was under no obli- 
gations when yours came to hand, tho' I had received a letter from Colo. Swift, 
by which I was acquainted that the State of Connecticut had appointed me a 
Captain in his Battalion ; also some other offers made me. After examining 
the contents, and upon consulting the whole, have determined to accept of your 
Honour's offer. I must confess my ignorance in that branch, but shall en- 
deavour to give close attention when I shall have opportunity to be instructed, 
and hope that my conduct may be such that I shall not dishonour the Regt." 
[MSS. N. Y. Hist. Soc] 

Walker's commission as Captain in the Artillery was dated Jan. 



246 Yale in the Revolution. 

I, 1777. He was generally on duty along the Hudson, at West 
Point, and forts in the vicinity. Some of the time he was with 
the Connecticut division. One of Gen. Heath's orders, July 19, 
1779, runs : "Captain Walker, with his six pounders, now at- 
tached to Gen. Huntington's Brigade, is to march with Gen. Nix- 
on's Brigade, and remain with it till further orders." In 1780 he 
is mentioned as being at the North Redoubt, opposite West Point, 
Fishkill, and New Windsor. He resigned March 23, 1781, 
After the war he lived at Stratford and held judicial office. He 
died Nov. 7, 18 10, aged sixty-four. 




Samuel Whiting, 

Surgeon, Connecticut. 

A native of Stratford. He was appointed in May, 1775, Sur- 
geon's-mate of Col. Waterbury's regiment, of which his father was 
Lieut.-Colonel. The regiment served in the northern depart- 
,ment. He was probably surgeon of the State regiment his 
father commanded in 1776-77, and again in 1779 at Fairfield 
when the enemy burned the place. He died in 1832, at Green- 
wich(?). 

Hezekiah Wyllys, 

Colonel, Connecticut Militia. 

Brother of Colonel Samuel Wyllys, class of 1758, already 
mentioned. He was born at Hartford in 1747. His brothers were 
in the Continental army, while he served mainly at home with the 
militia. He was Captain in Colonel Chester's regiment in 1776, 
and was probably with it at the battle of Long Island and White 
Plains. After that he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Com- 
mandant of the First Regiment of Militia and frequently turned 



Roll of Honor. 247 

out on alarms. He was in Putnam's force on the Hudson in the 
Burgoyne campaign, also at Stonington, New Haven, and other 
points during the war. He also assisted in recruiting the Conti- 
.nental line. "He lived," says Miss Talcott, in notice of the 
family, " in the old Wyllys house on Charter Oak hill [Hartford], 
and was the last of the name who resided there." His death 
occurred March 29, 1827.^ 




Class of 1766. 

John Chester, 

Colonel, Connecticut State Troops. 

Resident of Wethersfield, Conn., where he was born January 
29, 1749. He descended in the fifth generation from Leonard 
Chester, of Leicestershire, England, who settled at Wethersfield 
about 1635. The Colonel was a man of influence and position, 
and personally popular. Upon the Lexington alarm he hurried 
toward Boston at the head of a well-equipped company of about 
a hundred men, which is mentioned ds the " elite corps " of the 
provincial forces in that camp. " As such," says Swett, '' it was 
selected, on the 6th June, to escort Gen. Putnam and Warren, 
President of Congress, to Charleston, on the exchange of prison- 
ers with the British." Capt. Chester led this company, which 
belonged to Spencer's regiment, into the Bunker Hill fight, where 
it distinguished itself. His account of the action appears on 
page 18. In January, 1776, he was promoted major of Col. 
Erastus Wolcott's regiment, raised for a brief term of service at 
the siege, and was one of the first officers to enter Boston when 

* John Elderkin of this class, was without much doubt the officer of the same 
name who was Quartermaster of Colonel Chas. Webb's Conn, regiment in 1776, 
and again in 1777. There was such an officer at West Point in 1780. He was 
born at Windham, Conn., Jan. iS, 1742, and died in 1795; distant relative of 
Captain Vine Elderkin, class of 1763. 



248 Yale in the Revolution. 

the enemy left in March. In a letter to Gov. Trumbull, dated 
February 19, 1776, Col. Huntington recommends Chester for 
further promotion as " a fit person to fill any suitable place that 
may be vacant in the army," and in June following he was 
appointed colonel of one of the seven regiments of Wadsworth's 
brigade, raised to serve under Washington at New York to the 
end of the year. This regiment was engaged at the battle of 
Long Island, and narrowly escaped capture, being stationed on 
the outposts near the Flatbush pass, now in Prospect Park, 
Brooklyn. What part Chester took in the retreat to New York 
appears in the journal of his Adjutant, Tallmadge, quoted on 
page 49. Soon after he was made brigade commander, and was 
present at the battles of White Plains and Trenton. At the close 
of the year he was recommended for a colonelcy in the new 
Continental Army, but declined the appointment and returned to 
private life. On this point his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Marsh, says 
in his address at Chester's funeral : " Inviolably attached to the 
cause of his country, with reluctance he retired from the army at 
the imperious call of his family concerns in 1777, greatly 
regretted, particularly by the Commander-in-Chief, who ex- 
pressed a solicitous desire to retain him in the service." After 
the war, as before, Col. Chester went to the legislature, served as 
Speaker several terms, and in 1798 was elected a member of the 
Governor's Council. In 1791, Washington appointed him Super- 
visor of the District of Connecticut. He was also Probate and 
County Judge. His death occurred November 4, 1809, from 
paralysis. Extracts from his letters have been published as stated 
on page 21, note. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




'^:Z^!^^^^ 



Andrew Lee, D.D., 

Chaplain, Continental Army. 

Pastor at Hanover, now Lisbon, Conn, He was born at Lyme, 
May 7, 1745, and died August 25, 1832. The rolls of Col. John 



Roll of Honor. 249 

Durkee's Fourth Regt, Connecticut Line, show that Dr. Lee was 
its chaplain from January i to October 15, 1777. The regiment 
was engaged at the battle of Germantown, October 4th. 



James Lockwood, 

Secretary and Brigade-Major. 

Born July 9, 1746, at Wethersfield, Conn., where his father, 
Rev, James Lockwood, class of 1735, was pastor. He was a 
merchant at New Haven. On the Lexington alarm he appears to 
have gone in some capacity to the Boston camp. Later he 
became military secretary to Gen. Wooster, and accompanied 
him to Canada with Montgomery, who appointed him a brigade- 
major " in the Northern Army." He was at the capture of St. 
Johns, at Montreal, and at Quebec in April-May, 1776. This 
seems to have been the extent of his field service. On September 
24, 1777, he was appointed recruiting officer of the First Connecti- 
cut Militia brigade. After the war Major Lockwood went to 
Philadelphia and engaged in business. He is said to have died 
at Wilmington, N. C, August 24, 1795.' 

John Strong, 

Captain, Massachusetts Volunteers. 

Of Pittsfield, Mass. He is referred to as one of the patriotic 
citizens of the place who served for short terms at different times. 
In May, 1777, he appears as captain of militia on the Hudson^ 
and again in July at Fort Ann with fifty-four men. September 
6, 1777, he is one of thirty-one volunteers, "every man with a 
horse and meal-bag," and all presumably off for Gates' camp at 
Saratoga. In August previous he had marched for Bennington, 
and may have been in that battle. Capt. Strong was a lawyer by 
profession ; born October 13, 1744 ; died, probably at Albany, in 
1815- 

' David Shepard, of this class, is mentioned as Laving been a captain, and 
afterwards surgeon in the Revolution. He was a native of Westfield, Mass. ; 
died at Amsterdam, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1818, where he had settled as a physician. 

Dudley Woodbridge, of the same class, a "minute-man." A native of 
Stonington, Conn., he died at Marietta, Ohio, August 6, 1823. 



2 50 Yale in the Revolution. 

Joseph B. Wadsworth, 

Surgeon, Continental Army. 

A native of Hartford. He settled at Ellington, Conn., as a 
physician, and during a part of the war served as surgeon or sur- 
geon's mate on the Hudson. He was doubtless with one of the 
Connecticut Continental regiments. One of his letters speaking 
of the sick is dated "Camp, May i, 1778." He died March 12, 
1784, in his thirty-seventh year. 

Class of iy6y. 

Moses Ashley, 

Major, Continental Army. 

A native of Westfield, Mass., where he was born July 16, 1749 ; 
afterwards known as Gen. Ashley, of Stockbridge. Upon the 
Lexington alarm he marched to Boston as a lieutenant in Col. Pat- 
erson's militia regiment, and served with it through the siege. In 
September, 1775, he appears as recruiting officer for the regiment, 
and January i, 1776, as captain. During the summer and fall of 
that year he served in the Northern Department, then marched 
south to Washington's camp, and doubtless engaged in the battles 
of Trenton and Princeton. January i, 1777, he was commis- 
sioned Captain of the First Massachusetts Continental Regt., Col. 
Vose, and was present with it throughout the Saratoga campaign. 
After Burgoyne's surrender he marched to Washington's camp 
again and wintered, 1777-78, at Valley Forge. 

In June, 1778, his command was at the battle of Monmouth, 
and in August following at the battle of Rhode Island. From 
1779 to the close of the war he was with the main army on the 
Hudson, sometimes acting as brigade-major of Glover's brigade 
and again as inspector. In August, 1780, he was promoted Ma- 
jor of the Fifth Massachusetts Regt., commanded by Col. Rufus 
Putnam, and continued as brigade inspector during 1781. Au- 
gust 5, 1782, he commanded a light detachment on the outposts 
and was also one of the majors of the Light Infantry of that year. 
February 6, 1783, he was transferred from the Fifth to the Sixth 
Regt., Col. Greaton's, and in June following retired from the 
army, his service having been continuous for over eight years. 



Roll of Honor. 251 

Returning to Stockbridge, where he had married the widow of 
Col. Thos. Williams, he engaged in business and held office. He 
appears as County Treasurer in 1788, and as Brig.-Gen, of Mili- 
tia 1790-91. His death occurred from drowning August 25, 
1 79 1. Member Massachusetts Cincinnati Society. 

The Boston Centinel for September 7, 1791, publishes the fol- 
lowing obituary : 

" It is with the most painful sensations that we announce to the publick the 
unfortunate death of Brigadier-General MosES Ashley, of Stockbridge, who 
was drowned at the Dam of his Forge in Lee, on Thursday, the 25th ult. 
General Ashley, at a very early period of life, received the advantages of an 
academical education ; and though while at College he was distinguished by 
industry and decency of behaviour, yet it was not by literary acquisitions that 
his life was rendered most useful. More active scenes have employed every 
period of his ripened manhood. While in the bloom of life at the age of 
twenty-four, when America was aroused to opposition by the usurpations of 
Great Britain, he, with the ardour of youth and a promptitude of decision, by 
which he was always distinguished, embraced the profession of arms for the 
security of freedom. He served until the conclusion of the war, and for several 
of the last years as a Major in the line of Massachusetts. During the whole 
time it was his happiness and glory to be greatly respected by his superiours, 
affectionately beloved and confided in by those of his own grade, and almost 
adored by his soldiery under his immediate command. Brave, enterprising, 
active, generous, patient, he possessed those qualities by which military fame 
is acquired. . . . On all occasions he exerted his influence for the support 
of the due administration of Justice ; and has uniformly practiced the virtues 
of a modest and worthy citizen." 




Bela Elderkin, 

Lieutenant of Marines. 

Born at Windham, Conn., Dec. 10, 1751 ; younger brother of 
Capt. Vine Elderkin, class of 1763. He was appointed by the 
Governor's Council, Aug. 21, 1776, Lieutenant of Marines, and 
reappointed to the same position, April 11, 1777, for a cruise on 
the Connecticut ship of war Oliver Cromwell to extend to the 
middle of October following. He died at Potsdam (?), N. Y., in 
1829. 



252 Yale in the Revolution, 

Isaac Knight, 

Surgeon, Connecticut Troops. 

A physician of East Guilford, now Madison, Conn. He was 
appointed surgeon of Col. Ely's State regiment, July 3, 1777, a 
portion of which took part in expeditions to Long Island. Born, 
May 25, 1745 ; died, Plainfield, March 8, 1818.' 

Class of 1768. 



Jonathan Bird, 

Surgeon, Connecticut Troops. 

A native of New Britain, Conn, He was Surgeon of the i8th 
and 2 2d Militia Regiments from Connecticut, under Cols. Petti- 
bone and Chapman, which served at New York and vicinity dur- 
ing the summer and fall of 1776. They formed part of the force 
under Wolcott. He died in 1813, probably at Simsbury. 

Thomas Brockway, 

Chaplain, Connecticut Troops. 

Pastor at Lebanon Crank, Conn.; born at Lyme in 1744, and 
died there, suddenly, July 5, 1807. He was chaplain of Col. 
Samuel Selden's State regiment, Wadsworth's brigade, which 
served at New York in 1776. His regiment suffered some loss on 
the day of its retreat from the city, Sept. 15th. Mr. Brockway, 
who was sick in camp at the time, was removed in a horse cart by 
a boy and escaped capture. Later in the war when word reached 
him that the enemy had landed at New London, Sept., 1781, he 
seized his gun and powder horn, mounted his horse and hurried 
to the place, arriving too late, however, to be of service. 

Jonathan Heart, 

Captain, Continental Artny. 
Major, Second Reg' t, U. S. A. 

Major Heart, whose long and valuable services and sudden fate 

have been noticed in the closing chapter in the text, pp. 163-173, 

was born in Kensington, now Berlin, Conn., in 1744. His father 

was Deacon Ebenezer Hart, descendant of Stephen Hart, one 

of the early settlers of Hartford and Farmington. Jonathan and 

* Rev. Samuel Wales, D.D. , of this class, Professor of Divinity at the Col- 
lege from 1782 to 1793, was probably chaplain of Connecticut State troops for a 
short time in 1775-76. He died at New Haven February 18, 1794, aged 46 



Roll of Honor. 253 

his younger brother John, non-graduate, also a Revolutionary 
officer, uniformly spelled their name — Heart. 

After graduation the Major taught school in New Jersey, but 
was at home when the war opened, and appears to have started 
off with the first volunteers in the Lexington alarm. He dates 
his term of service from May 4, 1775, when he may have enlisted 
as a soldier in the ranks. According to family tradition he fought 
as such at Bunker Hill, However this may be, he was early at the 
front with Connecticut troops at the Boston siege. On Jan. i, 
1776, he appears there as ensign of Col. Wyllys' regiment, and 
served with it through the year in the New York campaign. His 
regiment took part in the battle of Long Island, narrowly escap- 
ing capture, and was again caught in the panic Sept. 15th, when 
New York was abandoned. It was present but not engaged at 
the battle of White Plains. During this campaign Heart was pro- 
moted lieutenant, and seems to have been well thought of, as he 
was again promoted in the reorganized army Jan. i, 1777, First 
Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Third Regiment, Connecticut 
Line, commanded by Col. Wyllys. From this time for seven 
years he was almost continuously on duty. In the summer and 
fall of 1777, the regiment was posted on the Hudson near Peeks- 
kill, and formed part of the small force that vainly attempted to 
prevent the enemy from ascending the river and burning Kingston. 
In 1778 it assisted in fortifying West Point. On July i, 1779, 
Heart was promoted captain-lieutenant, but continued as adju- 
tant for several months. He appears in this capacity at the Mor- 
ristown winter encampment 1779-80, at Westfield, N. J., and 
other places. On May i, 1780, he was promoted full captain, 
and transferred, Jan. i, 1781, to the First Connecticut Regiment, 
under Col. Durkee. At the same time, by orders of Gen. Parsons, 
Jan. 2, 1 781, he was appointed Brigade-Major and Sub-Inspector 
of the First Connecticut Brigade — a position, however, which he 
retained but a short time, as he was detached in the spring to join 
Col. Gimat's battalion of Lafayette's Light Infantry Corps, just 
formed for service in Virginia. Heart was with this body through- 
out its campaign against Cornwallis in that State, and in which it 
greatly distinguished itself. He was doubtless with it in the se- 
vere affair of Green Springs, July, 1781, near Jamestown. It also 
had the post of honor at the siege of Yorktown, especially at the 
storming of the redoubts on Oct. 14th, where Gimat's battalion led 



2 54 Yale in the Revolution. 

the American column. Returning with the army to the Hudson, 
Captain Heart was transferred, Jan. i, 1782, to Col, Zebulon But- 
ler's regiment, and served as brigade inspector and quarter- 
master. In May, 1783, he was transferred to Col. Swift's regiment, 
stationed at West Point, and was mustered out of the service with 
it in December of that year. 

Heart's subsequent career is outlined in the chapter in the text 
referred to. In 1785 he was appointed, by the Governor of Con- 
necticut, Captain in Harmar's First American Regiment, raised 
for service on the Ohio. The brief journal of his march with his 
company from Connecticut to Pittsburg, Pa., has lately been 
edited and published by Mr. C. W. Butterfield. While in the 
Western country he had the opportunity of making useful surveys 
and observations. For a time, as stated, he commanded the 
isolated post at Venango, Pa., which Col. Harmar visited in 1788. 
In a letter to the Secretary of War, June 15 th, the latter says : 
'' Captain Heart, with his small command, has done an immense 
deal of work there. His garrison was found to be in excellent 
order. There are a number of the Seneca and Monsy tribes con- 
tinually in his neighborhood, who conduct themselves very 
peaceably. Indeed, I know of no officer who manages the Indians 
better than Captain Heart. The Senecas in particular place 
great confidence in him ; he is a great favorite among them " 
(St. Clair papers). The captain was with Harmar in his luckless 
expedition against the Indians in the fall of 1790, in which his 
friend Major Wyllys, class of 1773, was killed. On March 4, 
1791, Heart was promoted Major of the new Second Regiment of 
Infantry, U. S. A., which formed part of St. Clair's expedition 
against the Indians in October-November, 1791. In the disas- 
trous battle of November 4th Heart led his regiment with acknowl- 
edged skill and courage, but at about the close of the fighting 
fell on the field with most of the officers of his command. Ex- 
tracts from some of his letters appear in the text. Member Con- 
necticut Cincinnati Society. 



^^^ ^.a^^^J,^^^ 




Roll of Honor. 255 

Theophilus Munson, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Native of New Haven, Conn., where he was born January 4, 
1747.' According to the Cincinnati Society records he was com- 
missioned captain, March 10,1776, in which case he may have been 
the Theophilus Munson who was captain that year in Col. Glover's 
Massachusetts Regiment, the command that proved so service- 
able on the retreat from Long Island in crossing the river, and 
again at the crossing of the Delaware before the battle of Tren- 
ton. He was also at Princeton. Whatever his service it entitled 
him to recognition, and on January i, 1777, he was commissioned 
Captain in the Eighth Connecticut Continental Line under Col. 
Chandler, which fought at the battle of German town and wintered 
at Valley Forge. It was also present at Monmouth. In 1779 
Captain Munson, who commanded the Light Company of his 
regiment, was detached to Col. Meigs' battalion in Wayne's Light 
Infantry Corps, and took part with it in the storming of Stony 
Point on the night of July 15th. He was at the Morristown en- 
campment during the winter of 1779-80. Upon the reduction of 
regiments, January i, 1781, he was transferred to Col. Butler's 
Fourth, and on January i, 1783, to the First, Col. Swift's, with 
which he retired from service in the fall. He died March 30, 
1795, at Redding, Conn., where he settled on a farm about 1788, 
His wife was Sarah, widow of Jabez Hill, and daughter of John 
Read, a leading resident of Redding. In 1804 his widow applied 
for the government bounty land, due for her husband's Revolu- 
tionary services. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 



^JCc 



John Paddleford, 

Surgeon, Continental Navy. 

A physician of Hardwick, Mass., born 1748. He is referred to 
in Paige's history of the town as a man of vigorous intellect, up- 
right and public-spirited. He entered the Continental Navy as 
surgeon, was taken prisoner, and died at St. Eustasia in 1779, 
when about to be exchanged. His younger brother Seth, class 

^ The members of this family have spelled their name variously, Munson and 
Monson. 



256 Yale in the Revolution, 

cti 1770, was a member of the town Committee of Correspond- 
ence at the opening of the war. 

Thomas Wooster, 

Captain, Continental Army, 

Son of Gen. David Wooster, class of 1738. He dates his ser- 
vice in the Cincinnati Society records from October 15, 1776, 
when he was aid-de-camp to his father at Rye and on the West- 
chester County border. His father recommended him to Gov. 
Trumbull for a position in one of the new Continental regiments, 
and he received a captaincy in Col. S. B. Webb's " additional " 
regiment, with commission dated January i, 1777. He was cap- 
tain of the " grenadier " company, and was in the expedition to 
Long Island in December, 1777, when his colonel and other 
officers were captured. The regiment served on the Hudson and 
at Rhode Island during 1777 and 1778. Wooster did not con- 
tinue in the army much after the latter date, the rolls showing 
that he was on duty until November 7, 1778, and then furloughed 
to June I, 1779, when, according to one of his own memorials, he 
left the service. After that he was entered as a "supernumerary " 
officer entitled to a year's pay. From one of his letters to his 
colonel in the "Webb Reminiscences," May 12, 1780, it appears 
that he did not draw his supernumerary pay " as I did not enter 
the service for the sake of pay or rank, and imagine should not 
have quitted it till the war was over, if you had not been so un- 
fortunate as to be taken from it." He proposed going to Europe 
in the fall. After the war Capt. Wooster engaged in business and 
took up his residence at New Orleans. He was lost at sea (as 
supposed) while on a voyage from New Haven to that place 
about 1793. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society.^ 

' Samuel Fowler, of this class, of Westfield, Mass., is mentioned as having 
been in the Revolutionary army. Bom September 5, 1749 J ^i^d November 
26, 1823. He was State Senator. 

Nathaniel West, of the same class, was probably the officer of his name who 
served as lieutenant of a Connecticut State regiment in 1776 and 1777 in the 
vicinity of New York. He was a son of Judge Zebulon West, of Tolland, 
Conn., and brother to Surgeon Jeremiah West, class of 1774. Born September 
5, 1748 ; died in Vermont in 181 5. 



Roll of Honor. 257 

Class of 1769. 

David Avery, 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental Army. 

A native of Franklin, Conn., born April 5, 1746. Few chap- 
lains remained continuously in the service as long as Mr. Avery. 
When the war broke out he was pastor at Windsor, Berkshire 
County, Mass., and, upon the Lexington alarm, marched with 
Paterson's regiment to Cambridge. He was with it during the 
Boston siege, also in the Northern Department, and again at 
Trenton and Princeton. About February 15, 1777, he was ap- 
pointed chaplain of Sherburne's " additional " Continental Regi- 
ment, raised in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, 
and later became chaplain of Gen. Larned's Massachusetts Bri- 
gade. He served through the Burgoyne campaign, and was after- 
wards on the Hudson. He resigned on account of ill-health, 
March 4, 1780, and subsequently settled at Bennington, Wren- 
tham, and Mansfield, Conn. His death occurred in the fall of 
1817 at Shepardstown, Va., where he was visiting and preaching. 
In Sprague's notice of him he is described as of ** commanding 
presence " and an animated pulpit speaker. 

Abner Benedict, 

CJiaplain, Connecticut. 

Pastor for some time at Middlefield, Conn.; born at North 
Salem, N. Y., November 9, 1740. He was volunteer chaplain of 
one of the Connecticut State regiments at New York during the 
summer and fall of 1776, and was present at the battles of Long 
Island and White Plains. He died at Roxbury, N. J., November 
19, 1818. 

Timothy Dwight, D.D., 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental Army. 

Eighth President of Yale College, 1 795-1817. Dr. Dwight's 
devotion to the Revolutionary cause, like that of President Stiles, 
was based upon something broader than the popular sense of op- 
pression by the mother country. Both seemed to regard the 



2sS Yale in the Revolution. 

severance of the old ties as necessary to the normal expansion of the 
colonist. It was the future with its great promise for this vigorous 
branch of Saxons to which they looked, and which with them 
was the true end to fight for after the movement had once begun 
as an act of self-defence. This is apparent from the address, 
quoted in the preface, delivered by Dr. Dwight before the college 
in July, 1776. Its burden is the coming America. To quote 
again, he says to the students : " You may, especially at the pres- 
ent period, be called into the active scenes of a military life. 
Should this be your honorable lot, I can say nothing which ought 
more to influence you than that you fight for the property, the 
freedom, the life, the glory, the religion of the inhabitants of this 
mighty empire ; for the cause, for the honor of mankind and 
your Maker." That these words and this view made an impres- 
sion, and probably determined more than one of his hearers to 
join the army, can hardly be doubted. It is certain that the two 
classes of 1776 and 1777, which, with others, must have listened 
to the address in question, sent out some ardent and noble young 
officers into the service. 

Retiring from his tutorship at the college in the summer of 
1777, Dr. Dwight soon after accepted a chaplaincy in the army. 
He was appointed to Gen. Parsons' Connecticut Continental 
Brigade, by Congress, Oct. 6, 1777, and probably joined it about 
the time of Burgoyne's surrender — the brigade being then posted 
near Peekskill on the Hudson. As David Humphreys, one of 
Dwight's college acquaintances and afterwards intimate friend, 
was then Parsons' brigade-major, the first suggestion of the ap- 
pointment may have come from him. Among other graduates 
in the brigade were Col. Wyllys, Lieut.-Cols. Grosvenor and Sher- 
man, and Major Gray, with some younger officers who had been 
students under him during his tutorship. It is said that the first 
or one of the first army sermons the chaplain preached was in- 
spired by the capture of Burgoyne, and that it made a stir in 
camp, the text being from Joel ii., 20 : "I will remove far off 
from you the northern army." If this sermon was printed at the 
time, as stated in one sketch of Dr. Dwight, no copy of it has 
found its way into our principal library collections. In all prob- 
ability he preached such a sermon, as he seems to have been 
profoundly impressed with the event. When he visited the Sara- 



Roll of Honor. 259 

toga battle-field, in the course of his travels years after, he could 
repeat what he may have foretold in 1777. *' Here," he says, ** it 
is impossible not to remember that on this very spot a contro- 
versy was decided upon which hung the liberty and happiness of 
a nation, destined one day to fill a continent, and of its descend- 
ants, who will probably hereafter outnumber the inhabitants of 
Europe." After passing the fall at White Plains and along the 
border of Westchester County, the brigade went into winter 
quarters at West Point, and began the construction of the works 
there. How far the spot was appreciated by the troops may be 
inferred from one of Parsons' letters to Col. Wadsworth, at Hart- 
ford, dated Feb. 22, 1778, in which he says : 

" You ask me where I can be found. This is a puzzling question ; the camp 
is at a place on Hudson's River called West Point, opposite where Fort Con- 
stitution once stood. The situation is pass'd description. , . . To a con- 
templative mind which delights in a lonely retreat from the World to view and 
admire the stupendous and magnificent works of Nature, 't is as beautiful as 
Sharon, but affords to a man who loves the society of the world a prospect 
nearly allied to the Shades of Death ; here I am to be found at present — in 
what situation of mind, you will easily imagine. Mr. Dwight and Major 
Humphrey are now here, and a good companion now and then adds to the 
number of my agreeable family." 

While in the Highlands Chaplain Dwight was quartered at 
times at the Beverly Robinson house, the scene of Arnold's treason, 
and on one occasion, with Humphreys, visited Fort Montgomery, 
which had been captured and abandoned by the enemy during 
the previous summer. His stay in the army, however, was com- 
paratively brief. The death of his father necessitated his return 
to his home at Northampton, Mass., in the fall of 1778, where he 
became the settled pastor for several years. A sermon he 
preached on the occasion of the surrender of Cornwallis, in 1781, 
was published, and copies of it are extant. His text was from 
Isaiah lix., 18, 19: ''According to their deeds, accordingly he 
will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies. 
. . . When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the 
Lord shall lift up a standard against him." To Washington's 
march upon Yorktown he refers as follows : " The wisdom with 
which this enterprise was planned, the secrecy, expedition, cour- 
age, and conduct with which it was executed, the success and 



26o Yale in the Revolution, 

glory with which it was crowned, and the benevolent manner in 
which it was used, cast the brightest lustre on our great Com- 
mander and the army immediately under him." Extracts from 
his funeral address on Washington appear in the text, pp. 
156-160. 

Dr. D wight was born at Northampton, May 14, 1752, and died 
at New Haven, January 11, 1817, the distinguished theologian, 
scholar, and President of the College. Member Connecticut Cin- 
cinnati Society, to which he was elected July 7, 1795. He sub- 
sequently delivered two annual addresses before it. 




Jabez Hamlin, 

Captain, Connecticut Troops. 

Of Middletown, Conn.; born, 1752. He was the son of Hon. 
Jabez Hamlin, class of 1728, for many years a man of note in the 
colony and State, having been elected forty-three times to the 
legislature, and repeatedly chosen Speaker. When the war 
opened young Jabez was ensign of the Middletown " training 
band " under Capt. Return Jonathan Meigs, afterwards the 
famous Revolutionary colonel, and upon the Lexington alarm he 
marched with the company to Boston, The record of this ser- 
vice is preserved in the archives at Hartford. Respecting Ham- 
lin's subsequent career. Dr. Field states in his Middletown 
"Sketches," that he became captain in 1776, and died in the 
service at East Chester, New York, September 20th of that year. 
He may have belonged to one of the militia regiments that joined 
Washington under Gen. Wolcott about the time of the battle of 
Long Island. 

William Plumbe, 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental Army. 

Resident of Middletown, Conn.; born in Westfield Society, 
January 6, 1749. Entering the ministry, he became a chaplain in 
the army in the second year of the war, and served in that 



Roll of Honor. 261 

capacity for over four years. He joined Col. Thomas Marshall's 
Massachusetts State Regt., with commission dated September 7, 
1776, and was stationed at Castle William, in Boston harbor, for 
some months. When Marshall's regiment was reorganized for 
the Continental Line in 1777, Mr. Plumbe continued with it as 
chaplain, with a new commission dated January i st of that year. 
In the spring the command marched to Ticonderoga, where it 
was assigned to Gen. De Fermoy's brigade, and where, upon the 
request of many officers, the General appointed him brigade 
chaplain. Mr. Plumbe doubtless participated in the retreat 
from Ticonderoga early in July, 1777, after which his brigade 
formed a part of Gen. Gates' army above Albany. Gates soon 
appointed him Chaplain of the Hospitals in the Northern Depart- 
ment, an office created by act of the Continental Congress, with 
commission dated August 20, 1777, and in this capacity he 
served until the reduction of the army, January i, 1781, when he 
retired. He was thus in the field throughout the Burgoyne 
campaign. These facts appear from records in the Pension 
Bureau, Washington. After the war Mr. Plumbe settled at Mid- 
dletown, and although still known as a clergyman, studied and 
practised law, and held a number of civil officers. He died 
June 2, 1843, aged ninety-four years, being at that time the oldest 
graduate of the college. 

Nathan Strong, D.D,, 

Chaplain, Connecticut. 

Pastor at Hartford, and eminent as a divine. In the sketch of 
Dr. Strong in Sprague's "Annals," the writer says : "His ener- 
gies were all enlisted in his country's cause, and every service 
that he could render her he did render promptly and cheerfully. 
For some time he served in the capacity of chaplain. His vigor- 
ous pen was often at work in endeavoring to vindicate his coun- 
try's rights, and to quicken the country's pulse to a higher tone 
of patriotism." That his interest and influence were appreciated, 
appears in the fact that the Connecticut Cincinnati Society 
elected him a member at the same time that Dr. Stiles was elected 
in 1784. Dr. Strong served as chaplain in Col. Samuel Wyllys' 
regiment in the summer of 1776, and was probably with it at the 



2 62 Yale in the Revolution. 

battle of Long Island and the subsequent retreats. On the October 
returns he is reported " absent sick." He was born October i6, 
1748 ; died December 25, 1816.' 

Class of 1 770. 

John Davenport, 

Major, Connecticut State Troops. 

Judge Abraham Davenport's family, of Stamford, was noted 
for its public spirit during the Revolution. The father, class of 
1732, was for many years prominent in civil affairs. He took a 
deep interest in the progress of the war, doing what he could by 
personal effort for the troops. During the campaign of 1776 
around New York he cared for the sick soldiers returning home ; 
" filled his own houses with them," says President Dwight, " and 
devoted to their relief his own time and that of his family, while 
he provided elsewhere the best accommodations for such as he 
could not receive." His eldest son, John Davenport, class of 
1770, born at Stamford, January 16, 1752, seems to have served 
for a time as commissary of State troops. He appeared also on 
several important legislative committees on army affairs. At the 
June session of the Assembly, 1777, he was appointed major of 
a regiment raised for six months for State defence. He was a 
lawyer by profession, and in after life became a member of Con- 
gress, serving eighteen years from 1799. He died November 28, 
1830. His younger brother James, class of 1779, was also in the 
service. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




' Phineas Fanning, of this class, of Riverhead, L. I., was a Provincial col- 
onel in his county in 1775-6, but appears to have remained on Long Island 
after its occupation by the enemy, though not entering their service. He was 
doubtless a brother of Col. Edmund Fanning, the loyalist, class of 1757, men- 
tioned on pp. 98 and 109. 



Roll of Honor. 263 

Andrew Hillyer, 

Captain, Connecticut State Dragoons. 

Col. Hillyer, as he was afterwards known, resided at Simsbury, 
Conn., where he was born June 4, 1743. Before entering college 
he served as a soldier in Amherst's campaign in 1760, and as a 
sergeant at Havana in 1762. Upon the Lexington alarm he 
marched to Boston, and remained in camp about a month. Re- 
turning to Simsbury he was appointed a lieutenant in the town 
company, and joined Col. Huntington's regiment at the Roxbury 
camp in July. About a month later, or August 23d, Huntington 
made Hillyer his Adjutant, speaking of him at the same time as 
"an old soldier, a sensible man, and good scholar." A mem- 
ber of his company describes him as " a handsome, sprightly 
young man, who had in early life received a college education." 
His term in camp expired in December, but he stayed three 
months longer as a volunteer. In the campaign of 1776 
around New York he appears as adjutant of Col. Jonathan Petti- 
bone's militia regiment, and was with it at Kip's Bay, on the East 
River, when the enemy landed on September 15th, and took the 
city. During the panic of the militia that morning his command 
sustained some loss. In the summer of 1777 he served under 
Putnam on the Hudson, and in 1779 was appointed Captain of a 
troop in the Fifth Regiment, Connecticut State Light Dragoons, 
commanded by Major Thomas Bull. With this he was stationed 
at one time at Horse Neck, and engaged in a dash on Col. Bear- 
more, the tory partisan, who had proved a terror to the inhabi- 
tai#b near the lines. An account of his exploit appears at the 
close of Hinman's " Connecticut." He also marched to the relief 
of New Haven on the occasion of Tryon's raid. In 1782 he was 
engaged in the duty of hunting up deserters in the New England 
States. 

After the war Hillyer was appointed Colonel of the Fifth 
Dragoons, and became a man of influence in his locality. He 
lived to an advanced age, his death occurring at Granby in Feb- 
ruary, 1828. 



264 Yale in the Revolution, 

John Porter, 

Major, Continental Army . 

Son of Rev. John Porter, graduate of Harvard, pastor at N. 
Bridgewater, now Brockton, Mass. He was born at Brockton, 
February 27, 1752, and fitted for college at Lebanon, Conn. 
Studying for the ministry he both preached and taught school in 
the vicinity of his home until the second year of the war, when he 
raised a company and joined the Thirteenth Massachusetts Con- 
tinentals under Col. Wigglesworth. His captain's commission 
was dated January i, 1777. In the summer his regiment went 
into camp at Peekskill, where he was promoted major, June 13, 
1777. Ordered to join Gates' force to the northward, he served 
through the Saratoga campaign, and then marched to Washing- 
ton's army, wintering at Valley Forge in 1777-78. In June fol- 
lowing he was present at Monmouth, and shortly after marched 
to Rhode Island, where he was engaged in the battle of August 
29, 1778, under Gen. Sullivan. There he was for some time in 
command of his regiment. In January, 1779, by Sullivan's 
orders. Porter took post with a detachment in the vicinity of 
Newport to watch the enemy's shipping and secure cattle. In 
1780, his regiment having rejoined Washington's army on the 
Hudson, his military record was marred by a painful experience. 
While on the march with the main force near Hackensack, N. J., 
about September ist. Major Porter resented certain expressions 
used toward him by Brig.-Gen. Poor, of New Hampshire, and a 
duel was the result. The General was mortally wounded, and 
died on the 8th, much regretted as being one of the bravest offi- 
cers in the service. While duels were not uncommon in the 
Revolutionary army, this particular affair seems to have been 
kept a secret, as no reference is made to the true cause of the 
General's death in any known published or unpublished account 
written at the time. (See " Porter Genealogy," inserted sheet, 
p. 51.) Surgeon Thacher states that he died of "putrid fever" 
after about a week's illness. Major Porter continued in the ser- 
vice, and in the winter of 1780-81 appears as Brigade-Major of 
the Second Massachusetts Brigade, encamped at West Point. 
January i, 1781, he was transferred to Col. C. Smith's Sixth 
Massachusetts, and thereafter was on duty along the Hudson. 



Roll of Honor, 265 

On November ist of that year he appears as member of a court- 
martial, of which his classmate, Col. Isaac Sherman, was presi- 
dent. In December following he was granted a furlough by Gen. 
Heath, but failed to return to camp. His Colonel reporting in 
June, 1782, that he had gone to France, a court of inquiry was 
held, and he was dismissed the service by Washington's orders, 
October 12, 1782, for violation of the Articles of War in going 
" beyond sea " without proper authority. It is said that Porter 
went to France with Lafayette, and was there presented to the 
king and queen. On his return home he sailed for the West 
Indies on business, and remained there until his death, which oc- 
curred, as announced in the New York papers, at Port au Prince, 
December, 1790. 



'O^}^ 



Isaac Sherman, 

Lieut. -Col. Commandant^ Continental Army. 

Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration, gave his two eldest 
sons, William and Isaac, the benefit of a liberal education which 
he himself had not received. They graduated in the same class, 
1770, and both served in the Revolutionary army. A third 
brother, John, non-graduate, was also in the war, serving as 
Lieutenant and Paymaster in the Connecticut Line from 1776 to 
1783. The father, who was Yale's Treasurer from 1765 to 1776, 
lived at the time and until his death on Chapel Street, opposite 
the college grounds, where the house still stands. 

Isaac Sherman was born at New Milford, Conn., June 22, 1753. 
He proved to be a valuable officer, rising from the rank of cap- 
tain to the command of a regiment, and seeing much and varied 
service. From his letter to his father, printed on page 25, it ap- 
pears that he intended to enter mercantile life and was watching 
his opportunities in Massachusetts when the war broke out. That 




266 Yale in the Revolution. 

event absorbing public attention, he fell into line with the great 
body of young men for the country's defence, and entered the 
Massachusetts service as a captain. According to the Cincinnati 
record his appointment dated April 27, 1775. During that year 
he served in Col. Gerrish's regiment, a portion of which fought at 
Bunker Hill. Sherman's company does not appear to have been 
present, but was probably on duty in the vicinity of Cambridge ; 
later in the year he was there at " Redoubt No. i," or " Brookline 
Fort," as he calls it in his letter, on Sewall's Point. In the new 
arrangement for 1776 his regiment was known as the "26th Foot," 
Continental Service, under Col. Loammi Baldwin, which, after the 
siege of Boston, went with the army to New York and took part 
in the movements there and in New Jersey to the close of the 
campaign. March 26, 1776, he was promoted major of the regi- 
ment, and as such appears on duty as officer of the day and super- 
intendent of works at New York through the summer and fall. 
Most of the time his brigade was encamped near the foot of Canal 
Street on the North River, and did not cross to the Brooklyn 
front at the time of the battle of Long Island. After New York 
City was abandoned the army encamped on Washington Heights, 
and in October marched to White Plains. On the way, on the 
1 8th, Sherman's brigade, then under Col. Glover, encountered the 
British Light Infantry near New Rochelle, and held its own 
bravely. From White Plains, where the brigade was not actively 
engaged, a portion of the army withdrew into New Jersey, and 
later won the victories of Trenton and Princeton, which greatly 
revived the spirits of the soldiers and hopes of the nation. As 
stated in the text, page 59, Sherman is remembered to have led the 
van of the Continental troops on the night march to Princeton, 
January 2-3, 1777. 

Upon the formation of the Continental Line Sherman entered 
the service of his own State — Connecticut, — having been brought 
to Gov. Trumbull's notice by Washington as follows, in a letter 
of October 9, 1776 : "I would mention Major Sherman, son of 
Mr. Sherman, of Congress, a young gentleman who appears to me, 
and who is generally esteemed, an active and valuable officer," 
and one who " promises good services to his country." He was 
appointed Lieut.-Colonel of Col. Chas. Webb's Second Connecti- 
cut Line, commission dated January i, 1777, and went into camp 



Roll of Honor. 267 

with it at Peekskill. During the summer and fall he served in 
Putnam's command on the Hudson until November 14th, when the 
regiment was ordered to join Washington's army in Pennsylvania. 
Soon after its arrival it was engaged in the skirmish at White- 
marsh, December 8th, and suffered some loss ; it then wintered at 
Valley Forge. In June following, the army moved out and fought 
the battle of Monmouth, where Sherman appears to have been 
actively engaged in the detachment under Gen. Wayne ; and in the 
fall of the year, 1778, he was Lieut. -Colonel of one of the battal- 
ions in Gen. Chas. Scott's Light Infantry Corps, detailed for 
special service at the front in Westchester County. In the fol- 
lowing summer, 1779, he was again detached to serve with Col. 
Meigs in Wayne's Light Corps, and was present with it at the 
famous storming of Stony Point on the night of July 15th. His 
experience with Wayne after the affair is noticed on page 104. 
At the close of the year Sherman was promoted to the command 
of the Eighth Regiment, late Col. Russell's, with commission 
dated October 28, 1779. By a recent act of Congress, all newly 
appointed regimental commanders were to be styled Lieut.- 
Colonel Commandant, and by that rank he was thereafter known. 
(See page no.) In 1780 he served along the Hudson in the main 
army, and remained there until January i, 1783, when he was re- 
tired by regimental consolidations. During 1781 he commanded 
the Fifth Connecticut. Washington intended to detach him to 
Lafayette's corps, destined for Virginia that year, but Sherman's 
absence from camp prevented. He figured in connection with 
Hull's affair early in the year, noticed on page 131. 

Sherman was an excellent disciplinarian, as several of his regi- 
mental orders, still preserved, clearly indicate. He enforces 
neatness, proper saluting, exact marching and drilling, and ap- 
peals to the soldier's pride and ambition. His own record was 
among the most honorable in the Connecticut Line. After the 
war, in 1785, he was appointed by Congress one of the assistant- 
surveyors of Western territory, and served a while in that capaci- 
ty. Later he was interested in the " Mississippi Company," and 
proposed raising a band of old soldiers to settle on the banks of 
the river, but the scheme fell through. His later years were 
passed in Connecticut and New Jersey. He died unmarried in 
Hunterdon County, N. J., February 16, 1819, being at the time a 



268 Yale in the Revolution, 



Revolutionary pensioner under the act of i8i8. Member Con- 
necticut Cincinnati Society. 




William Sherman, 



Paymaster, Continental Army. 



Eldest son of Roger Sherman and brother of the preceding ; 
born, probably, at New Milford, November 23, 175 1. He ap- 
pears in 1780 as Lieutenant and Paymaster of Col. Seth Warner's 
" additional " Continental Regiment, which was raised in the 
Hampshire Grants and other parts of New England in 1777. It 
was generally stationed in the Northern Department, After the 
war Sherman engaged in business in New Haven, where he died 
June 26, 1789/ 



Class of 1771.] 



John Brown, 



Colonel, Massachusetts Troops. 



The services and death of this high-minded and capable officer 
have already been referred to in the text. He was a native of 
Haverhill, Massachusetts ; born there October 19, 1744. During 
his college course an incident occurred which proved him to be 
a youth of spirit and action, qualities which were subsequently 
displayed by him in a marked manner in the field. Dissatisfac- 
tion with " Commons " led to quite a revolt among the students 
during his Senior year, in which he was evidently one of the 

' Rev. Joseph Buckminster, D.D., of this class, who was tutor at the college 
from 1774 to 1778, appears as Chaplain on the rolls of Col. Chas. Webb's Con- 
necticut Regiment in October-November, 1776. The college was broken up 
at that time, and he may have gone to the army for a brief term. 



Roll of Honor, 269 

leaders. We have this reference to it from his own pen in a let- 
ter written to his relative, Mrs. Elizabeth Arnold, Providence, 
R. I., date April 7, 177 1 : 

" I must tell you that there has been much disorder in college since I wrote 
you my former letter. We complained that we were oppressed in respect to 
Commons, which was most manifestly the case. But the authority of col- 
lege not being of our opinion, and refusing to redress us in our way, we left 
college and went home ; and in about three weeks I, with several others of my 
class, were cited to meet the trustees of s^ college on the 23d instant, April. 
What the Inquisition or Star Chamber Court may determine concerning the 
matter is uncertain. They intend to expel several, but as we have the civil 
authority on our side we do not intend to be expelled. So that it is impracti- 
cable for me to come to Providence until after our ' trial.' " 

How this resulted does not appear, but there was certainly no 
expulsion, as Brown graduated with full honors. One may infer 
from Humphreys* remembrance of him, page 1 24, that he was a 
pronounced and popular fellow — handsome, athletic, and intel- 
lectually gifted. Studying law, he practised his profession first 
at Johnstown, N. Y., and then at Pittsfield, Mass., where the war 
found him in active sympathy with the Colonial cause. As stated 
in the text, he was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial 
Congress in 1774, and early in 1775 was despatched into Canada 
to ascertain the temper of the people and situation of affairs. 
When the Connecticut party passed through Pittsfield in May to 
attempt the capture of Ticonderoga, he joined it and took a lead- 
ing part in the surprise and seizure of that important fortress. 
On July 6, 1775, ^^ was appointed Major of Colonel Easton's 
regiment from Western Massachusetts, and served through the 
year in the Northern Department under Montgomery, who thought 
very highly of his services. How Major Brown was generally 
engaged and what part he took in the Quebec campaign appears 
on pages 27-30. July 29, 1776, Congress appointed him Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel of Elmore's Continental Regiment, raised mainly in 
Connecticut, and on August ist, voted that he should take rank 
from November 20, 1775. Elmore's regiment was stationed at 
Albany and Fort Stanwix, but Brown does not seem to have 
joined it; and in February, 1777, he resigned his commission, 
which Congress accepted March 15th. In the following summer 
he was out again as colonel of a Berkshire County regiment, and 
did some dashing and effective work in Burgoyne's rear, as stated 



2 70 Yale in the Revolution. 

on page 80. After this he made an attempt on the British post 
on Diamond Island, in Lake George, but failed through lack of 
sufficient boats and shipping. That he alarmed the enemy, how- 
ever, by this bold manoeuvre is evident from the account given 
by the British Captain Hall in his " History of the War." Brown 
then retired to Pittsfield, or Sandisfield, where his family lived, 
and resumed his law practice ; and in 1780 he appears on the 
Civil List as Judge of Common Pleas in Berkshire County. In 
the summer of that year he again, and for the last time, took the 
field — on this occasion going as colonel of a regiment of levies 
raised to serve for three months from July 14th. The enemy, with 
their Indian allies, were then threatening the Mohawk valley, and 
Brown marched in that direction. On October 19th, while hasten- 
ing to co-operate with General Van Rensselaer, of New York, he 
was led by false intelligence into an ambush, where he and many 
of his men were killed at the first fire. This was in the settle- 
ment of Stone Arabia. The Colonel's untimely fate was deeply 
and widely felt, his earlier services having made him very gener- 
ally known in the north. Even the enemy were assured that in 
causing his death they had deprived us of no ordinary soldier. 
Haldimand, commanding in Canada, reported to Lord Germaine 
that Sir John Johpson had destroyed settlements and " killed a 
Colonel Browne, a notorious and active rebel." A letter pub- 
lished in the London Chronicle January 25, 1781, referring to 
Johnson's incursion, says : " He was attacked by a notable parti- 
zan, Colonel Brown, who had greatly distinguished himself in re- 
ducing the garrison of Fort Chamblee to surrender in 1776, and 
taking the baggage and cutting off part of General Burgoyne's 
rear at Fort Ticonderoga Landing in 1777. This successful par- 
tizan was killed on the spot with sixty of his men." 

Many other interesting facts respecting the Colonel, especially 
his experiences with Arnold, may be found in Smith's " History 
of Pittsfield," Stone's " Life of Brant," and other works. He 
fell on his thirty-fifth birthday. In 1836 his son erected a monu- 
ment to his memory, which stands near the Dutch Reformed 
Church at Stone Arabia. 




Roll of Honor. 271 

David Humphreys, 

Lieut. -Colonel, and A. D. C. to Washington. 

Humphreys was perhaps the most prominent of our Revolu- 
tionary graduates, his position in the family of the Commander- 
in-Chief giving him a certain distinction which no other rank or 
office could confer. His good fortune in the army was also a 
stepping-stone to other dignities in civil life. 

The Colonel or General, as he was afterwards called, was the 
son of Rev. Daniel Humphreys, class of 1732, of Derby, Conn., 
where he was born July 10, 1752. He appears in the army first 
as a volunteer and acting-adjutant of one of the Connecticut mili- 
tia regiments at New York, in the summer of 1776 — probably 
that commanded by Col. Jabez Thompson, who was a Derby 
man. Humphreys himself states that it was one of the last to 
leave the city on September 15th, and that he took part in the try- 
ing scenes of the day. Remaining with the army some time 
longer he returned to Connecticut, and upon the organization of 
the Continental Line was appointed captain in the Sixth Regt., 
with commission dating January i, 1777. This regiment, com- 
manded later in the year by Col. Meigs, was recruited mainly 
from New Haven County. During the following spring, in 
March or April, he received the appointment of brigade-major 
(asst. adj. gen.) on the staff of Gen. Parsons, and doubtless had 
much to do with the mustering and equipping of the new regi- 
ments which early in the summer were to march to the Hudson. 
Meantime, for his second experience in active warfare, he accom- 
panied Col. Meigs on his famous Long Island expedition in May, 
when that officer with 170 men sailed across the sound from Guil- 
ford in whale-boats, proceeded to Sag Harbor, burned twelve of 
the enemy's supply schooners and a large amount of hay, took 
ninety prisoners, and returned without the loss of a man. Gen. 
Parsons despatched Humphreys to Washington with an account 
of this success, which was probably the first occasion on which 
the Major had a personal interview with the Commander-in-Chief. 
In the summer and fall of the year he was with Parsons' brigade 
in Putnam's force on the Hudson, generally in the vicinity of 
Peekskill, and was quite active in the alarm occasioned by the 
approach of the enemy up the river when Burgoyne was marching 



2 72 Yale in the Revolution, 

down from the north. The following winter and spring were 
spent mainly at West Point, where his brigade began the con- 
struction of the permanent works. In the latter part of February 
of that year, 1778, he undertook a small expedition himself. 
With thirty volunteers he made a descent on the Long Island 
shore near Smithtown, to destroy a large ship-of-war aground 
there. The ship, however, had been floated the day before ; but 
the party burned a brig, schooner, and sloop, and returned with- 
out loss. In the summer of this year we find him taking his turn 
as " Brigade-Major for the day " in Washington's army as it lay 
encamped near White Plains after the battle of Monmouth. In 
the following winter his brigade went into quarters at Redding, 
Conn., and there on December 18, 1778, Gen. Putnam appointed 
him one of his Aids. This position he held through the year 1779 
and into the spring of 1780, when Putnam, through disability, was 
unable to return to the army. Humphreys, however, had many 
friends in the service, among others, Gen. Greene, who at that 
juncture invited him to join his staff temporarily. Writing to 
that General from Hartford, on May 23, 1780, he says that the 
arrival of the French fleet and other circumstances " will induce 
me probably to accept of the kind offer of coming into your fam- 
ily, in the manner you propose." Greene was at that time with the 
troops near Morristown, N. J., and early in June Humphreys 
joined him there. On the 23d of that month occurred the skir- 
mish or battle of Springfield, N. J., noticed in the text, where 
Greene was in command with Humphreys at his side serving 
actively as Aid. The latter was directed by Greene to send word 
of the engagement to Washington, which he did in the interest- 
ing letter printed on p. 118. 

On the same day, June 23, 1780, Washington appointed 
Humphreys an Aid on his own staff, and with the Commander- 
in-Chief he served until the close of the war. Col. Hull, class of 
1772, states in his " Memoirs " that it was through his recom- 
mendation, conveyed through Gen. Parsons, that Humphreys re- 
ceived this last and enviable appointment. (See notice of Hull.) 
From this time he remained constantly on duty in Washington's 
family, " never for a moment " having been absent, as he writes 
in 1784, except on official business ; and here too began that 
close personal friendship between himself and his chief which 



Roll of Honor. 27; 



continued through life. About six months after his appointment 
Humphreys received permission to undertake a daring project — 
nothing less than the capture of Sir Henry Clinton, the British 
commander at New York.' On Christmas Day, 1780, with three 
officers and twenty-seven volunteers, he started down the Hud- 
son in one barge and two whale-boats, — his plan being to reach 
Clinton's head-quarters at the foot of Broadway at night, surprise 
the guards, and carry him off under cover of the darkness. The 
scheme failed, however, as a fresh northwest wind rose in the 
evening and made a landing impossible. The boats were driven 
past the city, through the English shipping and the Narrows, 
down to Sandy Hook, whence the party made their way safely to 
Brunswick and returned to the army a week later, on New Year's 
Day, 1781. During the following summer and fall occurred the 
Yorktown campaign, in which Humphreys participated. After 
the surrender he was commissioned by Washington to convey the 
captured British flags to Congress, which body voted him an ele- 
gant sword on the occasion. Humphreys' grade in the army was 
still that of captain, but on November 12, 1782, Congress gave 
him the additional staff rank of lieut.-colonel, to date from June 
23, 1780, when he was first appointed. 

At the close of the war Humphreys accompanied Washington 
on his entry into New York, November 25, 1783, when the city 
was evacuated by the enemy, and went with him to Annapolis, 
where the chief resigned his commission. His civil career from 
this time is too well known to be noticed here. He held various 
diplomatic positions, first in 1784, as Secretary of Legation to 
Jefferson in France, then in 1790, Minister to Portugal, and in 
1797, Minister to Spain. He lived in Washington's family at 
Mount Vernon at different times, and finally settled in his native 
town of Derby, where he engaged in manufactures and agricul- 
ture. See in text, p. 153, an interesting letter written to his 
brother from Mount Vernon, in 1786. His poetical works are 
familiar. In 1786, he was appointed colonel of a new United 
States Regiment raised in Connecticut, and in February, 1787, 
during Shay's rebellion, was on duty with 150 men guarding the 

' Lieut. Pennington, of the artillery, states in his journal that the German 
General Knyphausen was the officer to be seized ; but others say Clinton, 
which was more likely. 



274 Yale in the Revolution. 

arsenal at Springfield, Mass. This command, however, was not 
kept up. During the 1812 war the old Revolutionary soldiers of 
Connecticut organized as " Veteran Volunteers " with Hum- 
phreys as " General-in-Chief." He was also Major-General of 
the State Militia, and made preparations for home defence. Oc- 
casionally he represented his town in the legislature. He died at 
New Haven, February 21, 18 18, and was buried in the old ceme- 
tery, where a monument stands over his grave with a fitting in- 
scription in Latin. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society.' 





Mark Leavenworth, 

Deputy Adjutant -General, Connecticut. 

Resident of New Haven ; born at Waterbury, May 26, 1752. 
By profession a lawyer. In the winter of 1776-77 he appears as 
secretary and assistant adjutant-general to General Wooster while 
he was stationed on the Westchester border. After the war he 
went to Paris, where he died Nov. 2, 181 2. His brother, Jesse 
L., class of 1759, was also in the service. 




Shadrach Winslow, 

Surgeon, Privateer. 

Physician at Foxboro, Mass. ; born at Freetown, Dec. 17, 
1750. A notice of him in the "Winslow Memorial," vol. i., p. 
63, says : " After graduation Mr. Winslow studied medicine and 
became a physician of good attainments, with fine prospects. 
But at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war his patriotic feel- 
ings were aroused to the highest pitch. He became an ardent 
supporter of the colonies, and resolved to do all possible for the 

' The writer is under obligations to Mr. Matthew Griswold, of Erie, Pa., for 
an examination of Col. Humphreys' papers in his possession. 



Roll of Honor. 275 

cause. Being a gentleman of means, he contributed largely to 
fitting out a war ship to attack the enemy upon the high seas, and 
went aboard of her as a surgeon. The particulars of the first and 
only voyage the ship made are unfortunately wanting, but it is 
known that she was captured — it is said off the coast of Spain, 
All on board were taken prisoners and brought to the Walla- 
bought Bay, off Brooklyn, and placed in the dismal prison-ships, 
which the British government in its policy thought wise and per- 
haps humane to keep there. Here Dr. Winslow was detained a 
prisoner of war about one year, and suffered much. He used to 
say that he never fully recovered from the damage his health 
received." He died at Foxboro Feb. i, 1817.' 

Class of 1772. 



Abraham Baldwin, 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental Army. 

Afterwards U. S. Senator from Georgia. He was born at Guil- 
ford, Conn., Nov. 22, 1754, and from 1775 to 1779 ^^as tutor at 
the college. Upon the retirement of Dr. Dwight from the chap- 
laincy of Parsons' brigade, in the fall of 1778, Mr. Baldwin was 
appointed to the vacancy, with commission dating Feb. i, 1779. 
His brigade served with the main army along the Hudson, win- 
tering at Morristown, N. J., in 1779-80, and at "Connecticut Vil- 
lage," nearly opposite West Point, during the two winters following. 
With the reduction of the regiments in 1781 he was transferred 
to the Second Connecticut Brigade, generally commanded by 
Col. Swift, while Chaplain John Ellis, graduate of Harvard, con- 
tinued with Huntington's brigade, which became the First. He 
remained in the service to the close of the war, and appears as 
one of the original members of the Connecticut Cincinnati 
Society. Some of his letters from camp are published in Todd's 
" Life of Joel Barlow," who was the chaplain's brother-in-law. 

' Rev. Lewis Beebe of this class is mentioned as surgeon in the Northern 
Department in 1775-76. 

Henry Daggett was probably the State Commissary of his name at New 
Haven. 

Whether the John Hart of this class was the captain of the same name in 
Col. S. B. Webb's regiment is uncertain. He was the son of Rev. William 
Hart, of Saybrook, and at the time of his death, in 1828, was called captain. 



2 76 Yale in the Revohttion. 

After the war Mr. Baldwin went to Savannah and entered pub- 
lic life. He became a member of the Continental Congress from 
Georgia, 1785-88, was a member of the Federal Constitutional 
Convention, and served as U. S. Senator from 1799 until his death 
at Washington, on March 4, 1807. He originated the plan of the 
Georgia University, and was known generally as a public-spirited, 
able, and kindly man. 

Samuel Augustus Still Barker, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Son of Judge Samuel Barker, class of 1736, of Branford, Conn,, 
where he was born in October, 1756. He first appears in 
the army as Adjutant of Colonel William Douglas' Connecticut 
State Regiment, commission dated June 20, 1776, and served 
with it through the New York campaign. The regiment was 
at the Long Island front, August 27th, in the retreat to New 
York following, and again in the retreat and panic of Sep- 
tember 15 th, when the city was abandoned. Barker was then 
acting brigade-major to Douglas' temporary brigade. Doubt- 
less he was with it also at the battle of White Plains. On Jan. 
I, 1777, he was commissioned Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 
Sixth Connecticut Line, first commanded by Douglas, and upon 
his death by Col. Meigs, and served with it on the Westchester 
border and along the Hudson. He was in Putnam's command 
below Albany during the Burgoyne campaign. May 10, 1780, he 
was promoted captain and transferred to Col. Butler's Second 
Connecticut, and later in the year he was appointed Brigade- 
Major and Sub-Inspector of the First Connecticut Brigade. In 
Feb., 1 781, he was detached with a company to serve in Lafay- 
ette's Light Corps, which was to attempt the capture of Benedict 
Arnold at Portsmouth, Va., but which afterwards was directed 
towards Cornwallis when he entered that State. Barker, with 
other graduates, experienced all the hardships and successes of 
that rapid campaign, which finally terminated in the siege of 
Yorktown. His regiment, under Col. Gimat and Maj. Wyllys, 



Roll of Honor. 277 

took part in the skirmish of Green Spring, near Jamestown, in 
July, 1 781, and again formed the storming party that captured 
one of the enemy's redoubts at Yorktown on the night of Oct. 
14th. Returning to the Hudson encampments, he continued in 
the service until his resignation on April 13, 1782. 

After the war Barker removed to the town of Beekman, now 
Lagrange, Dutchess County New York, through which he must 
have frequently passed during his military service, and in time 
came to own a large estate there. He married and left three or 
four children. Holding local offices, as assessor and supervisor, 
he also represented Dutchess County in the New York Assembly 
at eight sessions between 1788 and 181 1. In the latter part of 
his life he was known as " General Barker." Down to 1780 he 
signed his name as Sam. Augustus Still Barker, and thereafter 
dropped the *' Still." He died at his home, Friday, Nov. 19, 
1819, in the 64th year of his age. 




Jonathan Bellamy, 

Ensign, Connecticut Troops. 

Son of Rev. Dr. Joseph Bellamy, class of 1735, the well-known 
divine of Bethlehem, Conn. He had lately entered upon the 
practice of law when the war broke out, but interrupted it by 
joining Col. Philip B. Bradley's State regiment as ensign, with 
commission dating June 20, 1776. He was doubtless with it 
during the New York campaign, being stationed most of the time 
on the Jersey side at Bergen, Paulus Hook, and elsewhere. A 
small part of the regiment retreated with Washington's force to 
the Delaware and took part at the battle of Trenton, but young 
Bellamy probably was not with it on that occasion, as we have 
the record that he died of the small-pox at Bethlehem (Oxford), 
N. J., on or about Jan. 4, 1777, ten days after Trenton. He had 
lately been recommended for promotion in the new Connecticut 
Continental Line. 



278 Yale in the Revolution, 

William Hull, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, Continental Army. 

Afterwards General Hull, of the War of 181 2. His revolutionary 
career is noteworthy not only as being patriotic, highly service- 
able, and at times brilliant, but as extending continuously over 
the long period of nine years. 

He was born at Derby, Conn., June 24, 1753, being a descend- 
ant of Joseph Hull, who emigrated from Derbyshire, England, in 
the previous century. When the war broke out he was studying 
law, but promptly left his books and accepted a lieutenancy in 
the town company, which joined Col. Charles Webb's Connecticut 
State Regiment. He was commissioned First Lieutenant July 6, 
1775, and went with the regiment to the Boston camps, where he 
served through the siege. On February i, 1776, he was promoted 
Captain in the same regiment, which was reorganized as the 
"19th Foot" in Washington's army for that year, and served 
under him in the New York campaign. After the battle of Long 
Island it was ordered over to the Brooklyn front with other rein- 
forcements, but was not closely engaged. At the battle of White 
Plains, October 28th, as one of the regiments of McDougall's 
brigade it helped to defend Chatterton's Hill on the American 
right flank. Hull was present and active in the affair. Later he 
took part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, the former of 
which he describes in his letter quoted on page 59. The term of 
his regiment having expired, Captain Hull, upon the request of 
some Massachusetts officers and the recommendation of Washing- 
ton, was appointed Major of Col. M. Jackson's Eighth Massachu- 
setts Continental Line, commission dating January i, 1777. 
Springfield was designated as the recruiting station of the regi- 
ment, and by April, 1777, about three hundred men had joined. 
With these Major Hull was ordered to reinforce St. Clair's little 
army at Ticonderoga, which in July following was obliged to 
evacuate that post. During the retreat from Fort Edward, the 
Major had an opportunity of showing his skill in handling the 
rear guard and repulsing an attack. Major Wilkinson recalls 
this incident in his " Memoirs " as follows : 

" As the rear guard of one hundred men was marching from its post to join 
the main body, it was fired upon by a small party of Indians, and took flight in 



Roll of Honor. 279 

open ground. Attracted by the firing I rode up, and was a spectator of the 
scene ; the guard was commanded by Major Hull, who on horseback was mak- 
ing the most animated exertions to rally his men, which he at length effected, 
and in turn drove the enemy with great gallantry." 

In the struggle with Burgoyne which soon followed, Hull's 
regiment was ageiin actively engaged. Hull himself had the com- 
mand of a separate detachment in the battle of September 19th, 
which fought bravely and sustained heavy loss. In the decisive 
action of October 7th he again took a prominent part. After the 
surrender the Eighth Massachusetts, with other regiments, was 
ordered to Washington's army in Pennsylvania, where it wintered 
at Valley Forge 1777-78. There Hull was appointed, March 29, 
1778, Sub-Inspector of Gen. Larned's brigade, to which he be- 
longed, and received his instructions from Baron Steuben, In- 
spector-General, who had lately joined the army. In June fol- 
lowing he was present at the battle of Monmouth. In the spring 
of 1779 the Major commanded the advance posts in Westchester 
County, and on June 2d of that year was placed in command of 
the seven companies of Massachusetts Light Infantry, which he 
skilfully led, under Wayne, at the famous storming of Stony 
Point on the night of July 15th. Hull was subsequently pro- 
moted Lieutenant-Colonel, commission dating August 12, 1779, 
and transferred to Col. Greaton's Third Massachusetts Line. It 
appears that his claim to this rank was contested and brought to 
the notice of Washington, who thereupon wrote a long letter to Gen. 
Heath, December 13, 1779, in which he favored Hull. He speaks 
of him as "an officer of great merit" whose services had been 
" honorable to himself and honorable and profitable to his coun- 
try." " He might," continues Washington, " have been arranged 
a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Connecticut Line by the Committee 
of Congress at White Plains in 1778 ; but many of the Massachu- 
setts officers discovered great uneasiness at the idea of his being 
taken from them ; and he himself, hoping that all were content 
with his services and rank, generdusly refused the offer, and de- 
termined to remain where he was. But he had a better title than 
this. I only mention it as a trait of his character." 

During 1780 Hull was with the main army, generally along the 
Hudson. In January, 1781, he conducted the successful expedi- 
tion against the Tories at Morrisania, referred to on pages 130-132. 



28o Yale in the Revohttion. 

When Washington marched to Yorktown in the summer of 1781, 
Hull was appointed Deputy-Quartermaster of Heath's force left 
to protect the Highlands and West Point. This office, however, he 
soon resigned, and on November 21, 1 781, he was appointed Divi- 
sion Inspector of the Third Massachusetts and New Hampshire 
Brigades. A few days later, December ist, he was assigned the 
more responsible position of Dep. Adjutant-General under Heath, 
vice Col. Grosvenor (class of 1765), who had resigned the office, and 
this position he retained until April 29, 1782, when he received 
a furlough. As the Massachusetts regiments were subsequently 
reduced in numbers, Col. Hull was transferred, January, 1783, to 
the 6th, and on June i6th to the 4th, or Col, H. Jackson's. On 
the last date he was also appointed to the command of the Light 
Infantry, and led that corps at the head of the American force 
that marched into New York when the city was evacuated by 
the enemy November 25, 1783. A provisional body called the 
" American regiment " was then organized to serve until July i, 
1784, at West Point, and Hull was appointed its Lieut.-Colonel. 
With its disbandment his long services in the field terminated. 

In the '* Military and Civil Life of Gen, Hull " many incidents 
of his revolutionary career appear from his own pen. Among 
other interesting facts noticed is the invitation from Washington 
to Hull in 1780 to enter his family as Aid-de-Camp, which the 
Colonel, however, declined, as he was then Inspector of Howe's 
Division. Steuben felt that he would be of greater service where 
he was than as Aid to Washington, and entreated him not to 
change. Hull states that he accordingly recommended Humphreys 
to Washington's notice. 

After the war Hull was commissioned to treat with Gen. Hal- 
dimand in Canada, respecting the transfer of the northwestern 
posts into American hands, as appears from his letter, on p. 149. 
In 1787 he assisted in the suppression of Shay's rebellion, and in 
1794 was appointed U. S. Commissioner to treat with the British 
in Canada, and hold treaties with the Indians. In 1805 he was 
appointed by Jefferson Governor of the Territory of Michigan, 
and held that office until 1814, being also appointed, in 1812, 
Brig.-General and Commander of U. S, forces along that frontier. 
On August 15, 181 2, he surrendered Detroit to the enemy, and in 
January, 1814, was tried by court-martial at Albany and sentenced 



Roll of Honor, 281 

to be shot on charges of cowardice and neglect of duty. The exe- 
cution of the sentence, however, was remitted by the President on 
the ground of his age and revolutionary services. Hull then re- 
tired to Newton, Mass., where he had taken up his residence in 
1784, and died there on November 25, 1825. In the militia of 
the State he rose to the rank of Major-General. 

Gen. Hull never wavered in his conviction that the surrender 
of Detroit was a right and necessary act, and his friends have 
always regarded him as a victim " sacrificed to the necessity of 
preserving the Administration from disgrace and ruin." Its own 
blunders were to be concealed in making Hull the one responsible 
official in the case. The opinion may be ventured that an impar- 
tial review of the evidence by a military court to-day would result 
in a reversal of judgment. 

The General was an original member of the Massachusetts 
Cincinnati Society. 




Samuel William Williams, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Grandson of Col. Elisha Williams, fourth President of the 
college ; born at Wethersfield, Conn., in 1752. Upon the organ- 
ization of the Continental Line he joined Col. S. B. Webb's 
"additional" regiment, as Lieutenant, February, 1777, and on 
March 23, 1778, was promoted Captain. The regiment served 
along the Hudson in 1777, and in the summer of 1778 marched 
to Rhode Island, under Lafayette, and took an active part in the 
battle there of August 29th. In June of the following year it 
helped to check the enemy's advance from Springfield, N. J. By 
the reduction of the Line, on January i, 1781, the regiment became 
the Third Conn., and for a short time in the fall of the year Capt. 
Williams had the command of it. A brief extract from one of his 
letters, referring to camp rejoicings over the capture of Cornwallis, 
appears on p. 139. He retired from the service January i, 1783' 



2«2 



Yale in the Revolution, 



After the war he settled at Wethersfield, held the office of Town 
Clerk for twenty years, and was sent to the Legislature several 
sessions. He died on or about September 14, 181 2. Member 
Conn. Cincinnati Soc' 




Class of 1773. 



Roger Alden, 

Brevet-Major and A.D.C., Continental Ar7ny. 

Descendant in the sixth generation of John Alden, of the May- 
flower Company ; born at Lebanon, Conn., February 11, 1754. 
Trumbull, the painter, speaks of him in his Autobiography as one 
of his "very particular friends and companions," and an active 
member of a military company formed by the younger men of 
Lebanon in anticipation of war. His elder brother, Captain 
Judah Alden, of Col. S. B. Webb's regiment, was killed in a skir- 
mish in Westchester Co., August 22, 1777. 

Alden was first commissioned Lieutenant and Adjutant of Col. 
Bradley's Fifth Conn. Line, January i, 1777. The regiment fought 
at Germantown, October 4th, and encamped that winter at Valley 
Forge, where the Adjutant was appointed Brigade-Major of Hunt- 
ington's Brigade. June i, 1778, he was promoted Captain- 
Lieutenant in Col. Butler's Second Conn., and marched with the 
army to Monmouth. September i, 1779, he was promoted full 
Captain, and thereafter served most of the time as Aid-de-Camp, 
with the brevet rank of Major, to Brig.-Gen. Huntington, being 
formally appointed to the position by Division Orders, Springfield, 
N. J., April I, 1780. He probably spent the winter at the Morris- 
town huts. About a year later, on February 10, 1781, he resigned 
his commission, and retired to study law, at Fairfield, in the office 
of Sam. William Johnson. In a letter to Aaron Burr, February 28, 

* Rev. Dr. John Reed, of this class, for many years Unitarian pastor at West 
Bridgewater, Mass., is stated, in Drake's "Diet, of Am. Biography," to have 
served one year as chaplain in the naval service during the Revolution. 



Roll of Honor. 283 

1781, he refers to his four years' service, and adds : "I bid adieu 
to camp, having completed my business, with my thanks to our 
worthy Commander-in-Chief for his attention to my character. 
The discharge he gave me equalled my wishes and exceeded my 
expectations." 

Two years after the war, June 23, 1785, Alden was elected 
Deputy Secretary of the Continental Congress, Governor Trum- 
bull recommending him as " a young gentleman possessed of 
natural good abilities enlarged by a liberal education, and im- 
proved by several years' knowledge of mankind in the public ser- 
vice of his country, in which he acquitted himself with honor and 
reputation." Upon the adoption of the new Constitution, Wash- 
ington, as President, appointed him, July 24, 1789, custodian of 
the books and papers of the old Congress, together with " the 
great seal of the Federal Union," until Jefferson, Secretary of 
State, should enter upon his duties. Alden then became Chief 
Clerk of the Department ; but giving up this position he went to 
what is now the town of Meadville, Penn., and became interested 
in lands of the Holland Co., which, in 1796, he advertises for 
sale, his address being " Mr. David Mead's Settlement, about 40 
miles from Lake Erie, in Penn." It would seem that he lived 
at Meadville until his seventy-seventh year, when the War De- 
partment appointed him, January 20, 1825, Military Storekeeper 
at West Point. On December 30, 1826, he was also made Post- 
master at the same place ; and these positions he retained until 
his death, November 5, 1836. The Major was buried in the Post 
Cemetery, where his tombstone still stands in a fair state of 
preservation. Col. Bradford R. Alden, late of the regular army, 
was his son. Member Conn, and N. Y. Cincinnati Societies. 




^/e<?^^i-^ 



Royal Flint, 

Deputy Conmiissary, Continental Army. 

A native of Windham, Conn., where he was born January 12, 
1754. His grandfather, Joshua Flint, descendant of Thomas 



284 Yale in the Revolution. 

Flint, of Salem, Mass., appears among the early settlers of the 
place. His father, James Flint, became a prosperous merchant 
there, and sent his two sons. Royal and Abel, to college — the 
latter, class of 1785, afterwards the Rev. Dr. Flint, for many years 
a prominent pastor at Hartford. 

Young Flint visited the Boston camps in 1775, where Nathan 
Hale speaks of meeting him, and returning home, engaged in the 
early part of 1776, in making saltpetre at Wethersfield. On July 
loth following, he was commissioned Paymaster of Col. Andrew 
Ward's Conn. Continental Regt., which, in August, joined Wash- 
ington's army at New York. This regiment was at Trenton and 
Princeton. May 28, 1777, Flint received the appointment of 
Asst. Commissary of Connecticut State troops with " a captain's 
pay and rations," As such he distributed clothing to the State's 
soldiers in Putnam's command on the Hudson in the fall of 1777, 
as well as during the following winter at Valley Forge. The 
next year, May 27, 1778, Congress commissioned him Asst. Com- 
missary of Purchases, under Col. Wadsworth, Commissary-Gen- 
eral in the Continental Army. In this position he became ac- 
quainted with leading officers in the service, among others. Gen. 
Greene, who, writing from camp, April 14, 1779, to Wadsworth, 
says : " Mr. Flint dined with me to-day, and is brave and hearty. 
We wish for another feast of salmon. When may we expect it ? " 
The Commissary's interesting letters, on pp. 114-117, indicate 
the nature of his duties and difficulties encountered. Another 
letter, given in full below, is valuable as showing the effect of the 
depreciation of the currency upon the officers in the army, Flint's 
case being one of many. It is as follows, addressed to the 
President of Congress : 

" MoRRiSTOWN, Jan. 23, 1780. 
"Sir: — While I see officers of every denomination soliciting an adequate 
recompense for their services, I cannot, in justice to myself, remain any longer 
silent. It is, however, with reluctance I trouble Congress with the concerns of 
an individual, when their attention is so much called to matters more public 
and important. But if the claim be just, I flatter myself it will not be rejected 
from want of consequence. My case is this : I accepted the appointment of 
Assistant Commissary-General of Purchases on the 27th of May, 1778, upon a 
salary of five dollars per day, two rations for myself and one for my servant, 
and forage for two horses. As the currency had not then depreciated more 



Roll of Honor. 285 

than threefold, I considered that allowance sufficient for my support, and 
cheerfully entered upon my duty. Since that time the money has been rapidly 
growing worse, and no additional emoluments have been annexed to my office. 
The last year of my service I have been obliged to allow my servant higher 
wages than I received myself, and now find that my expenses amount to several 
thousand dollars more than my whole pay. My duty has been constant and 
fatiguing, and of such a nature that no honorary advantages could result from it, 
however well it might be performed. I have fixed no particular extent to my 
claim, for I only request that Congress would compare my case with others, and 
upon this relative view make me a just compensation for past services. 
' ' I have the honor to be 

" Your Excellency's most obt. hbl. servt. 
" Royal Flint. 
" His Excellency, S. Huntington." 

Soon after the foregoing letter was written, Flint decided to 
retire from the army ; and early in February, 1780, he sent in his 
resignation. He was still at Morristown, and before returning 
to Connecticut he wrote as follows to Washington under date of 
February 6th : 

"Sir: 

" Having finished my service under the Commissary-General, and having no 
further connection with the department, my authority over the affairs of it are 
at an end. My continuance here in such a situation will afford no advantage 
to the public, and consequently no great satisfaction to myself. The circum- 
stances that have compelled my leaving the army have no ways abated my 
wishes for its prosperity, or my zeal and inclinations to serve it. . . . As 
it has been my ambition in a public capacity to merit your approbation, so, 
now I am out of office, I shall be no less ambitious, in whatever situation I 
am, of manifesting my personal attachment to your Excellency." 

At a later date Flint visited the French troops at Newport, and 
remarked upon their excellent commissariat. After the war, from 
1786 to 1789, he was U. S. Commissioner for settling the Conti- 
nental accounts of the Eastern States, with residence at Boston. 
He then became interested in land schemes, taking four shares 
in the Ohio Company, and appearing as one of the three trustees 
in the less fortunate Scioto Company. His name is also on the 
list of purchasers of large tracts in Western New York. In 1792, 
however, a general crash followed the rage for speculation ; and 
a letter of that year mentions Flint as among the " ruined." 



286 Yale in the Revolution. 

Subsequently he went to Charleston, S. C, and died there Octo- 
ber 17, 1797.' 




Nathan Hale, 

Captain, Connecticut Continentals. 

" Martyr-Spy " of the Revolution. 

The devoted Hale, to whom reference is made on pages 52-55, 
was born at Coventry, Conn., some twenty miles east of Hartford, 
June 6, 1755. He belonged to a typical New England family of 
the last century, his father, Richard Hale, being a farmer and 
church deacon who brought up his sons under strict convictions 
of duty. Nathan and his elder brother, Enoch, entered the same 
class at Yale, where the former certainly was a general favorite. 
We have the testimony of more than one of his friends and asso- 
ciates that he was a most attractive character, a youth whose dis- 
position and endowments won for him the respect and love of his 
fellows to an unusual degree. Perhaps no one could speak of 
him with better authority or discrimination than Dr. Dwight, who 
was tutor at the college during the last two years of Hale's course 
and necessarily knew him well. It is this fact that makes the 
Doctor's reference to him in his " Conquest of Canaan " a valua- 
ble tribute. The extract, well known, will bear repeating : 

" Thus, while fond Virtue wished in vain to save, 
Hale, bright and generous, found a hapless grave. 
With genius' living flame his bosom glowed, 
And science charmed him to her sweet abode ; 
In worth's fair path his feet adventured far, 
The pride of peace, the rising grace of war ; 
In duty firm, in danger calm as even. 
To friends unchanging, and sincere to Heaven. 
How short his course, the prize how early won ! 
While weeping friendship mourns her favorite gone." 

' The writer is indebted to Mr. J. F. Morris, of Hartford, for copies of the 
Flint letters in the text and sketch. 



Roll of Honor. 287 

In a note to this passage Dr. Dwight states that it was written 
early in the war, and, with two or three similar tributes, was in- 
serted in his poem " to indulge the author's own emotions of 
regard for the persons named." During the war, also, some other 
friend of Hale, whose name does not appear, remembered him in 
a longer poetic effort, which is interesting as being more of a per- 
sonal and descriptive nature. It was first published in the Amer- 
ican Historical Magazine in 1836 in part as follows : 

" Erect and tall, his well-proportioned frame. 
Vigorous and active, as electric flame ; 
His manly limbs had symmetry and grace, 
And innate goodness marked his beauteous face ; 
His fancy lively, and his genius great, 
His solid judgment shone in grave debate ; 
For erudition far beyond his years ; 
At Yale distinguished above all his peers ; 
Speak, ye who knew him while a pupil there, 
His numerous virtues to the world declare ; 
His blameless carriage and his modest air, 
Above the vain parade and idle show 
Which mark the coxcomb and the empty beau ; 
Removed from envy, malice, pride, and strife. 
He walked through goodness as he walked through life ; 
A kinder brother nature never knew, 
A child more duteous or a friend more true." 

Hale's classmate. Major Tallmadge, his college-mate and fel- 
low-officer. Colonel Hull, some of his pupils and others, have left 
us ample evidence of the high estimation in which he was held. 
Through their recollections and memorials one may see in him a 
nature not only gifted, but capable of any noble, ingenuous act 
whenever occasion might call for it. 

After graduation Hale taught school, first, at Moodus, Conn., 
and then at New London, where he was still teaching when the 
war broke out. The drift of opinion and events, of course, in- 
terested him. Thus to his brother Enoch, then at Lyme, he 
wrote from New London, August 8, 1774, in an unpublished let- 
ter : " No liberty-pole is erected or erecting here ; but the peo- 
ple seem much more spirited than they were before the alarm. 
Parson Peters, of Hebron, I hear, has had a second visit paid 
him by the Sons of Liberty in Windham. His treatment and the 



288 Yale in the Revolution. 

concessions he made I have not as yet heard." Soon after the 
Lexington skirmish Hale gave up his school, and on July 6, 1775, 
was commissioned lieutenant of a company which was attached 
to Col. Charles Webb's State regiment, and went to the Boston 
encampment. He served through the siege, and when the regiment 
was reorganized as the " Nineteenth Foot " in Washington's army 
of Continentals, to serve until January i, 1777, he was promoted 
Captain, with commission dated February i, 1776. Marching with 
the army to New York, Webb's regiment was engaged, with the 
others, in fortifying the city. It was encamped most of the time 
on the line of Grand Street, near the Bowery, and Hale was with 
it constantly, absorbed in his military duties. No opportunity, 
however, was given him to engage in action, which he evidently 
regretted. His regiment was ordered to the Long Island front on 
the morning of August 27th, but took no part in the battle, and 
after the retreat to New York again went into camp. About the 
I St of September following, a small body of Rangers was or- 
ganized under the command of Lieut. -Col. Knowlton, and Hale 
was accepted as one of its captains. As the Rangers were 
to be at the front, reconnoitering the enemy. Hale felt that 
with them he could render some valuable service. The choice, 
however, was to prove a fatal one. Washington at that time 
was extremely anxious to obtain information from the enemy's 
camps respecting their preparations for their next advance and 
the probable point of attack, and he mentioned the matter t6 
Knowlton, who in turn suggested the service to one or more of 
his own officers. 

" The suggestion appears to have deeply impressed Hale, who, 
after an interview with Knowlton, went to talk the subject over 
with his fellow-officer and college friend, Capt. William Hull, 
of Webb's regiment. This we know from Hull himself. The 
two captains discussed the question of undertaking the rdle of 
a spy. Hull used every argument to dissuade Hale from the 
dangerous service, and appealed to him as a soldier not to run 
the risk of closing his promising career with an ignominious 
death. Hale, however, although fully sensible of the conse- 
quences of capture, could think of nothing but duty. He told 
Hull that for a year he had been attached to the army, and had 
rendered no material service ; that he wished to be useful ; was 



Roll of Honor. 289 

uninfluenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary re- 
ward ; and so far as the peculiar duty in question was concerned, 
he felt that * every kind of service necessary to the public good be- 
came honorable by being necessary.' " — Harper's Magagine, May, 
1880. 

Deciding to undertake the perilous errand. Hale disguised 
himself as a schoolmaster, crossed from Stamford to Long 
Island, proceeded to New York, which had just fallen into the 
enemy's hands, and, obtaining information, started to return to 
the American camp. Then comes the brief and melancholy 
record that, being either suspected or recognized, he was arrested, 
examined by General Howe, the British Commander-in-Chief, 
condemned as a spy, and executed as such on the morning of 
September 22, 1776. 

How Hale bore himself during this ordeal is, fortunately, a 
point on which we have authentic information. His brother 
Enoch, hearing of his fate, went to the American camp, then at 
White Plains, and ascertained that the Captain was " suspected 
by his movements that he wanted to get out of New York," 
and that " minutes " being found on his person, he was ordered 
to be hanged. " When at the gallows he spoke, and told that he 
was a Captain in the Continental Army, by name Nathan Hale." ' 
Captain Hull states, in the published extracts from his MSS. 
" Memoirs," that he conversed with the British officer who 
brought word to our lines of Hale's fate, and learned from him 
that Hale conducted himself with the utmost dignity, and, when 
examined, frankly avowed his name, rank, and mission. Few 
persons witnessed his execution, but the officer told Hull that his 
last words were remembered — an expression of regret that he 
" had not more than one life to lose for his country." ^ 

All this was in perfect keeping with Hale's character. He had 
sought to do Washington and the country a useful service, but 
failing, he accepted the consequences with the composure and 

' See Enoch Hale's brief diary, published as appendix to address by Rev. Ed- 
ward Everett Hale at New London, September 7, 1881. Boston: A. Wil- 
liams & Co. 1881. 

- Hull wrote an account of Hale for Hannah Adams' " History of Nev/ Eng- 
land," published in 1799, which appears there in quotations as he gave it. In 
his " Memoirs," edited by Mrs. Campbell, after his death, he gives further par- 
ticulars. 



290 Yale in the Revolution. 

devotion that hallow the last moments of all true heroic spirits. 
Even if nothing more were known of his fate than the mere fact 
of his execution, his previous conduct and expressions, such as 
his last conversation with Hull, the tone of his letters and diary, 
his virtues and motives as recalled by those who knew him, would 
single him out as a youth to be remembered and his sacrifice one 
to be fitly commemorated. Thus far his devotion has been hon- 
ored with two public memorials, — first by a modest monument 
erected at South Coventry in 1846, and again by an ideal bronze 
statue provided by the State of Connecticut and unveiled in the 
Capitol building, Hartford, June 14, 1887. In printed form we 
have numerous tributes, among which may be mentioned J. W. 
Stuart's " Life " of Hale ; Rev. Edward Everett Hale's address at 
the Groton Celebration in 1881; Mr. Charles Dudley Warner's ad- 
dress at the unveiling at Hartford, 1887; article in Harper's Mag- 
azine^ May, 1880 ; a " Poem " delivered before the Alumni Associ- 
ation of Columbia College by John MacMullen, A.M., in 1858 ; 
and a " Poem " by Judge Francis M, Finch at the centennial an- 
niversary of the Linconian Society, Yale College, in 1853, of 
which the last stanza is as follows : 

" From Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf, 

From monument and urn, 
The sad of Earth, the glad of Heaven, 

His tragic fate shall learn ; 
And on Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf, 

The name of Hale shall burn ! " 




James Hillhouse, 

Captain, Governor s Foot-Guards. 

Afterwards United States Senator from Connecticut. He was 
born at Montville, in that State, October 21, 1754, but after 
graduation lived in New Haven, where he practised law. Like his 
father, who was prominent as a Revolutionary leader in the 
colony, he took an active interest in the war and at times served 
in person. He appears as a lieutenant of volunteers to rein- 



Roll of Honor. 291 



force Washington, in December, 1776, and may have been in the 
field a few weeks then. On May 8, 1777, he was elected Lieu- 
tenant of the Second or New Haven Company of Governor's 
Foot-Guards, and two years later. May 3, 1779, was elected its 
Captain, He held this rank at the time the enemy invaded New 
Haven in July, 1779, when he marched out promptly with a small 
company of volunteers and skirmished with the British as they 
came up through West Haven from their landing-place at Savin 
Rock. He showed much spirit on the occasion and is remembered 
as one of the chief figures among those who attempted the defence 
of the town. In 1779 and 1780 he also did good service at home 
in recruiting men for the Continental army under Washington^ 
Some of his correspondence in the matter is to be found in the 
Trumbull MSS., Boston. Rising in influence and reputation. Hill- 
house became a Member of Congress in 1791-94, and thereafter 
sat in the Senate until 1810. He was Treasurer of Yale from 
1782 until his death at New Haven, December 29, 1832. 




Stephen Keyes, 

Captain, Connecticut Troops. 

Native of Pomfret, Conn., where he was born, December 6, 1753. 
He was commissary, probably of Putnam's regiment, in 1775, and 
served at the Boston siege. On January i, 1776, he was commis- 
sioned First Lieutenant in Col. Parsons' Regt., and was doubtless 
with it through the New York campaign, taking part in the battle 
of Long Island and the retreat from the city. In Jan., 1777, he 
appears on a list of captains for Col. Huntington's Continental 
regiment, but did not serve. After the war he removed to Bur- 
lington, Vermont, where he engaged in business and became Col- 
lector of the district. He was there known as Colonel Keyes. 
His death occurred at St. Albans, Vt., August 2, 1804. 



292 Yale in the Revolution. 

Elihu Marvin, 

Adjutant, Continental Army. 

A native of Lyme, Conn., born December, 1752, He first appears 
in the service as Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Fourth Regt. 
Connecticut Line, under Col. Durkee, with commission dated 
January 1, 1777. The regiment fought at the battle of Germantown 
in October of that year, and wintered at Valley Forge, 1777-78. At 
the latter camp Marvin was appointed Brigade-Major of Varnum's 
brigade, consisting of two R. I. and two Conn, regiments, and 
may have been with it at the battle of Monmouth in June, 1778. 
Soon after this, or before August ist following, he left the service. 
Returning to Connecticut, he occasionally served with the militia, 
appearing, for instance, in March, 1779, as Aid to Gen. Wads- 
worth when troops were ordered to New London on an alarm. 
He settled as a physician at Norwich and became Brigadier-Gen- 
eral of State Militia. He died September 13, 1798, — an obituary 
notice saying of him : " Departed this life, on Friday morning, in 
the fifty-fifth year of his age, of the yellow fever. General Elihu 
Marvin, whose enlightened understanding, whose philanthropic 
heart, whose regular deportment and domestic virtues distin- 
guished his character." 

Ezra Sampson, 

Chaplain, Massachusetts Troops. 

Pastor at Plympton, Mass. Born at Middleboro, February, 1754 ; 
died in New York City, December 12, 1823. The sketch of Mr. 
Sampson in Sprague's ''Annals of the Pulpit," says : "In 1775 
he acted as volunteer chaplain in the camp at Roxbury, and in 
July of that year preached a sermon before Col. Cotton's regi- 
ment, of so patriotic and inspiriting a character that it was imme- 
diately printed by request of the army. His heart was warmly in 
his country's cause ; and he lost no opportunity of serving that 
cause during the whole period of the Revolution." 

Ezra Selden, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Captain Selden and his cousin, Adjutant Charles Selden, of the 
class of 1777, were descendants of Thomas Selden, one of the 
original settlers of Hartford. Joseph Selden, youngest son of 
Thomas, removed in 1695 to what is now Hadlyme, on the Con- 



Roll of Ho7tor. 293 

necticut River, twelve miles from its mouth, and established a 
homestead which, in 1724, passed to his youngest son, Samuel. 
This Samuel Selden had two sons, namely, Samuel (second), 
or the " Colonel," and Ezra, the " Squire," the former inheriting 
the homestead, and the latter settling in Hamburg Society, six 
miles below. These two brothers were the fathers, respectively, 
of the graduates and revolutionary officers, Ezra and Charles. 

Ezra, son of "Squire " Ezra Selden, was born March 23, 1752, 
Representing a patriotic family, he responded promptly to the call 
for troops after the first alarm, and joined Col. Samuel H. Par- 
sons' regiment at Lyme as Orderly Sergeant, May 6, 1775. With 
this he went to Boston, and remained through the siege. On 
January i, 1776, when the regiment was made the Tenth Conti- 
nental Foot, he appears as Second Lieutenant. He marched with 
it to New York, and participated in the trying events of the cam- 
paign, being present, no doubt, at the battle of Long Island, and 
certainly in the retreat from the city September isth. His regi- 
ment was with the army at White Plains, but not actively en- 
gaged. Upon the formation of the Connecticut Continental Line 
Selden was promoted Lieutenant and Adjutant of the First Regi- 
ment, with commission dated January i, 1777, the regiment being 
commanded successively until 1781 by Colonels Huntington, 
Prentice, and Starr. This command fought at the battle of Ger- 
mantown in October, 1777, and then wintered at Valley Forge. 
An interesting and valuable letter written by Selden from that 
camp appears on page 87. The surgeon of the regiment. Dr. 
Albigence Waldo, states in a brief diary that the Adjutant taught 
him in mid-winter how to darn stockings so that the patch would 
"look like knit-work," a timely accomplishment in view of the 
desperate straits the soldiers were reduced to in the matter of 
clothes. In the following summer the army entered the field and 
fought the battle of Monmouth, Selden being with it on the oc- 
casion, and also in the next camp at White Plains, where he 
wrote the second of his letters published in the text, page 91. 
Meanwhile he was promoted captain in his regiment, with rank 
dating from June i, 1778. His captain's commission, signed 
by John Jay, President of Congress, is among the applications in 
the Pension Bureau at Washington. 

In the movements of 1779 Captain Selden was given the oppor- 
tunity of distinguishing himself as one of Wayne's Stony Point 



294 Yale in the Revolution, 

heroes. He was Captain of Light Infantry in Colonel Meigs' 
regiment for the campaign, and engaged in the storming of that 
post on the night of July 15th, During the attack he was 
severely wounded in the groin, and was subsequently taken home 
by his father, who came for him in a carriage from Lyme. Selden's 
Lieutenant-Colonel, Sill, refers to the assault as follows : " The 
taking the fort at Stony Point is a convincing proof of the bravery 
of the Americans, and is acknowledged by our enemies. There 
has nothing been done in the war that exceeds, or even equalled it. 
The officers and soldiers that were in the attack have gained im- 
mortal honor. Captain Selden received a wound in the back ; 
the ball is extracted, and he will be well soon." The Captain, 
however, never fully recovered from the shock. He returned to 
the army, and remained with it until the close of the war, or May, 
1783. From 1781 to 1783 he served in Colonel Butler's Fourth, 
and Colonel S. B. Webb's Third Regiment of the Line. 

After the war Captain Selden married, and settled in the prac- 
tice of law at Lyme, but his constitution was undermined in part 
by his wound, and he died from hemorrhage December 9, 1874. 
An obituary notice, written by Dr. Samuel Mather, of Lyme, 
speaks of him as follows : 

" He was a person of a most beautiful aspect and agreeable disposition ; his 
deportment and manner of address was such as attracted the attention and ad- 
miration of his acquaintance. Early in life he received a liberal education, and 
was one of the first that presented himself in the cause of his bleeding country. 
He served in the various posts from that of an Orderly Sergeant to that of a 
Captain, which he filled with honor and dignity, and in many instances signal- 
ized himself as an excellent officer and soldier ; in particular, at the reduction 
of Stony Point, where he received a dangerous wound at the first attack. Not- 
withstanding the distresses of his wound and great loss of blood, he was one of 
the first with his division that mounted the ramparts and displayed that bravery 
so peculiar to the American officer. He died with that disposition of mind pe- 
culiar to those that have an interest in the redemption by Jesus Christ. In him 
the public have lost a great defender of the privileges and liberties of mankind, 
and an agreeable citizen ; his parents, his wife, with two small children, an af- 
fectionate son, and husband, and a tender parent." 

Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




Roll of Honor. 295 

Benjamin Tallmadge, 

Major, Continental Dragoons. 

Tallmadge's name, it need hardly be said, stands high in the 
list of distinguished field-officers of the Revolution. Few of the 
younger men in the army enjoyed the confidence and esteem of 
Washington in larger measure. 

The Major was born February 25, 1754, at Setauket, Suffolk Co., 
L. I., where his father, Rev. Benjamin Tallmadge, class of 1747, 
was long settled as pastor. Upon graduation he taught the High 
School at Wethersfield, Conn., and was there when the war broke 
out. He visited the Boston camp in the summer of 1775, but did 
not decide to enter the service until the following year, when he 
became Adjutant of the State regiment under Col. Chester, with 
commission dated June 20, 1776. His regiment served in Wads- 
worth's brigade at New York, and fought at the battle of Long 
Island. It was stationed at the outposts in the present Prospect 
Park, and was forced to a hasty retreat to avoid capture. Tall- 
madge's own account of the affair, and especially of the subsequent 
retreat to New York and other operations of the campaign, appears 
in his " Memoirs," published after his death, an extract from which 
is given on p. 49. When Col. Chester became a brigade com- 
mander, Tallmadge was appointed, September ist, his Brigade- 
Major, and retained that position until about the middle of De- 
cember. He was with his command at the battle of White Plains. 
In the fall of the year when State committees were selecting 
officers for the proposed Continental Line, Tallmadge was recom- 
mended for promotion by his colonel, who highly appreciated his 
merits, as appears from what he wrote to a friend at Wethersfield, 
October 3d : " For my part I think it of the last importance to 
the future well-being of America that good men should now be 
appointed. No tongue can tell the difficulties this army has 
laboured under for the want of them. I wish Major Tallmadge 
might be provided for by Connecticut. I have recommended 
him ... all allow him fit for any post." Tallmadge mean- 
while accepted a captaincy in a corps of cavalry, which became 
the Second Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons, under Col. 
Elisha Sheldon, of Connecticut, and recruited a full company 
from his own brigade before it returned home. His promptness 



296 Yale in the Revolution, 

and success in the case enabled him to become senior Captain in 
his new regiment, with commission dated December 14, 1776. 
Returning to Wethersfield, he equipped and mounted his company 
in handsome style, and in the spring of 1777 joined Washington's 
army in New Jersey. His first experience there was a skirmish 
with the enemy in the Short Hills, A little later he was pro- 
moted Major, with commission dated April 7, 1777, and as such 
took part in the movements in Pennsylvania leading to the battle 
of Brandywine, and was engaged in the following battle of 
Germantown, October 4th. During the remainder of the war the 
Second Dragoons was generally stationed in the vicinity of the 
outposts in Westchester Co. and along the Hudson, while Tall- 
madge himself at times commanded separate detachments, or was 
of service to the Commander-in-Chief in a special way as indi- 
cated on p. 124. His management of the secret service referred 
to was highly approved by Washington, and his skill in conducting 
expeditions recognized in flattering terms. He was well acquainted 
with all the neutral ground between the two armies, and knew 
what inhabitants could be depended upon for correct information. 
He signalized himself especially in crossing the Sound and attack- 
ing posts on Long Island, as in the case of Fort George, men- 
tioned on p. 126, when he received the thanks and praise of 
Congress, and again in the case of Fort Slongo, surprised on 
October 10, 1787, by an expedition planned by Tallmadge, but 
executed by Major Trescott under his orders. In this connec- 
tion, also, may be read the interesting letter from Washington to 
the Major, p. 146, upon the attempted expedition in 1782, de- 
scribed by the latter on p. 145. Tallmadge's own tours of duty 
along the Westchester front were frequent, to one of which he 
briefly refers as follows in a note to Col. Webb, dated Crompond, 
July 6, 1780 : " I am to-morrow going on an enterprise down to 
the Lines with a vei-y respectable command of Horse and foot. I 
hope the real accounts you hear from me may relate some attchieve- 
ment. Being on an advanced Post, our Duty is, of course, severe, 
subject to frequent alarms, and little rest. I have often wished for 
Miss Webb's faculty of living without sleep, that Duty might not 
affect me." ' On one occasion the enemy stole a march upon 
him and he barely escaped capture. 
1 Webb's " Reminiscences." 



Roll of Honor. 297 

The part played by Major Tallmadge in the arrest of Andr6 is 
well known. But for his observation and suspicions that officer 
might have escaped ; and, indeed, had his advice been followed 
by his Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, Arnold himself might have 
been captured. He was with Andre much of the time before his 
execution, and became quite attached to him, as appears from the 
Major's "Memoirs" and the interesting letter from his pen on 
page 125. 

Tallmadge remained in the service until June, 1783, when the 
army disbanded. After the war, in common with other officers, 
he became interested in the Ohio Company, and in 1795 appears 
as its treasurer. He made one trip to Ohio, but returned and set- 
tled at Litchfield, Conn., where he became an influential citizen. 
From 1800 to 1816 he represented his district in Congress. He 
died March 7, 1835. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




Joshua Lamb Woodbridge, 

Captain, Massachusetts Militia. 

Son of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, class of 1732 ; born at Hat- 
field, Mass., about 1750. He appears at the siege of Boston from 
May to December, 1775, as lieutenant and sometimes recruiting 
officer in the State regiment commanded by Col. Benj. Ruggles 
Woodbridge. His classmate, Nathan Hale, speaks of meeting 
him in camp there. In the following year he seems to have served 
a short time in the Northern Department, and in 1777 probably 
took part in the Saratoga campaign with Massachusetts militia. 
He is on the rolls of Colonel Tyler's regiment, and in 1778 he was 
Captain in Colonel Dike's militia regiment, serving in Rhode 
Island under Sullivan. During Shay's rebellion he rendered 
General Shepard some assistance, being sent on one occasion 



298 Yale in the Revolution. 

to ascertain Shay's object. Subsequently Woodbridge engaged 
in business in Boston. When or where he died does not appear 
in the published record of the family, 

John Palsgrave Wyllys, 

Major, Continental Army, 
Major, First Regiment U. S. A. 

Youngest of the three Wyllys brothers, graduates of the college, 
referred to in the sketch of Col. Samuel W., class of 1758, and 
the officer who, after " long and meritorious " services, fell in the 
Indian wars in Ohio, as described in the closing chapter of the 
text. 

The Major was born at Hartford in 1754, and was apparently 
living at his father's ample home there when the war broke out. 
According to one of his own letters and the Cincinnati records, 
he entered the service as Adjutant of Col. Erastus Wolcott's State 
regiment, appointment dating January 5, 1776, which served a 
brief term at the Boston siege early in that year. In the following 
campaign at New York, Wyllys was appointed, August 7, 1776, 
Brigade-Major of Wadsworth's brigade of Connecticut State 
troops, and was doubtless at the battle of Long Island. During 
the retreat from New York on September 15th, he was taken pris- 
oner by the enemy near Kip's Bay, or along the line of East 34th 
Street, but was exchanged in the following spring. With the or- 
ganization of the Continental Line he was commissioned, January 
I, 1777, Captain in Col. S. B. Webb's "additional" regiment, re- 
ferred to on page 66 as " quite a Yale corps," and remained with 
it to the close of the war. During Burgoyne's campaign the regi- 
ment served under Putnam against the British force that moved 
up the Hudson from New York, and -in December of that year 
was concerned in an unsuccessful expedition to Long Island. In 
the summer of 1778 Wyllys marched with his regiment from the 
Hudson camps to Rhode Island, and engaged in the battle fought 
near Newport, on August 29th. The regiment remaining in Rhode 
Island over a year, the Captain appears there sometimes on court- 
martial and again on special duty. One of his letters in the 
Gates Papers (N. Y. Hist. Soc.) is a report of an expedition he 
was ordered to undertake to secure stock on the Elizabeth 



Roll of Honor. 299 

Islands, With a party of fifty men he proceeded, about the 3d 
of September, 1779, to " Coaxitt," " Cuddahone," " Penekese," 
and other islands, and on the 9th returned to Bedford. On the 
loth he reported as follows : 

' ' The stock upon these Islands far exceeded in value what was supposed — the 
quantity brought off amounted to about sixty head of neat cattle, the same num- 
ber of horses, and upwards of five hundred sheep in fine order. I am happy to 
say that no abuse, either to the person or property of any Inhabitant, has been 
complained of, and have the pleasure to reflect that I have been successfully em- 
ployed in depriving the enemies of my country of property which was their own 
whenever they should choose to take possession — as the event has since proved." 

Returning to Washington's army, Webb's regiment wintered, 
1779-80, at the Morristown huts, and engaged in June, 1780, in 
the battle of Springfield, N. J., referred to on page 117. What 
the Inspector-General, Steuben, thought of this regiment, then 
under the command of Lieut.-Col. Huntington (class of 1775), ap- 
pears in his report, printed on page no. Soon after the Spring- 
field affair. Captain Wyllys commanded one of the Connecticut 
companies in Lafayette's Light Infantry Corps, and was presently 
promoted Major, with commission dated October 10, 1780. On 
January i, 1781, Webb's regiment became the Third of the Con- 
necticut Line. Wyllys, however, was absent from it the greater part 
of the year as Major of one of the three Light Infantry battalions 
which marched with Lafayette to Virginia. He was assigned to 
the command February 17th, was soon relieved by Major Throop, 
and in April reassigned. Referring to this, he wrote as follows to 
Col. Webb on the [8th of that month : " Major Throop yesterday 
arrived from the Marquis's detachment, and I am obliged to take 
up the tour upon the old appointment. I set off to-morrow for 
Hartford in order to put myself, in some degree, in a condition to 
take the field. ... I am extremely sorry if my going upon 
this tour shall oblige you to leave your affairs in a manner differ- 
ent from what you wish, but I could not consistent with a soldier's 
honour have refused it." In Virginia Wyllys distinguished himself 
with the Light Corps — having command of his battalion in the 
sharp affair of Green Spring, July 6th, and being with it at the 
siege of Yorktown following. His regiment was assigned the 
post of honor at the successful assault on the enemy's forts on the 
night of October 14th. Returning to the Hudson camps in De- 



300 Yale in the Revohttion. 

cember, 1781, Wyllys thereafter remained with the army in the 
Highlands, taking his turn also in command of the outposts, as 
appears from his letters on page 143. His regiment, under Col, 
Swift, in 1783, was the last of the Connecticut Line in the service, 
and with it he retired from the field in November of that year. 

Major Wyllys' record after the war has already been given in 
the text, pages 163-170. From 1785 to 1790 he was Major of the 
First Regiment of the regular army on the Ohio frontier, and 
there fell in action, October 22, 1790, near the site of Fort Wayne, 
Indiana. He had devoted fourteen years of his life to the coun- 
try. An appreciative poetic tribute to his memory appears on 
page 170. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society.' 




Class of 1774. 



Amos Benedict, 

Connecticut State Troops. 

Of Danbury, Conn. ; born March 17, 1754. In the Benedict 
genealogy he is said to have been in the service during the year 
1776, and that he died of small-pox in camp February 15, 1777. 
Where or in what capacity he served does not appear. 

Aaron Jordan Bogue, 

Chaplain, Connecticut. 

A native of West Avon, Conn. ; born May 6, 1752. The Al- 
bany Argus says in obituary notice of him : " He was the oldest 
of five brothers, all of whom were old enough to take a part in 

' Gamaliel Babcock, of this class, was probably the " Issuing Commissary" 
of the same name appointed by Gov. Trumbull's council, July i, 1777, to assist 
in the equipment and provision of the Connecticut Continental Line. The 
officer was from Lebanon. 



Roll of Honor. 301 

the Revolutionary War. At that eventful period he, although a 
clergyman, obeyed the call as a minute-man, was a soldier and 
twice a chaplain of militia. He lost all his property during the 
struggle." He was also chaplain during the 1812 war, and re- 
maining in the service, accompanied General Jackson on his Creek 
expedition. Retiring to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., N. Y., after 
the Revolution, he died there in the latter part of June, 1826, 
aged 74 years. 

William Lockwood, 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental A rmy. 

Afterwards pastor at Milford and Glastonbury, Conn. ; born at 
Wethersfield, January 21, 1753. He was tutor at the college in 
1779, and in the fall of the following year he joined the army as 
chaplain. Referring to him in a letter dated October 27, 1780, 
President Stiles says : " I rec'' a letter from Mr. Tutor Lockwood 
from the army dated 14 inst., wherein he informs that he has 
accepted a chaplainship in the army in Gen. Nixon's [Mass.] 
Brigade, and asks to resign the Tutorship." Mr. Lockwood con- 
tinued in the service to the close of the war, being stationed gen- 
erally along the Hudson. In 1783 he was Chaplain of Paterson's 
First Massachusetts Brigade. He died at Glastonbury January 
23, 1828. Member Massachusetts Cincinnati Society. 

Nehemiah Rice, 

Captain^ Continental Army. 

Of Northbury, now Plymouth, Conn. He was the son of Phin- 
eas Royce (as the name used to be written), who was the grand- 
son of Nehemiah Royce, one of the first settlers of Wallingford. 
Phineas married Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Lord, of Lyme, and 
removed to Northbury about 1736. Their son and fifth child, 
Nehemiah, born in 1753, was sent to college. 

Young Rice entered the service October 15, 1775 ; in what 
capacity does not appear. On April 15, 1776, he was appointed 
Lieutenant in Col. Samuel Elmore's Connecticut regiment, raised 
for service in the Northern Department ; and during the latter 



302 Yale in the Revohttion. 

part of the year he was on duty at Albany and Ft, Schuyler, on 
the Mohawk. January i, 1777, he was commissioned Adjutant of 
Colonel Chandler's Eighth Connecticut Continentals, and was 
doubtless with it at the battles of German town and Monmouth, 
and at Valley Forge. November 15, 1777, he was promoted Cap- 
tain, and during the fall of 1779 served with Wayne's Light In- 
fantry Corps. At the Morristown winter quarters, 1779-80, he 
was in temporary command of his regiment. By the new ar- 
rangement of January i, 1781, he went on duty with Sherman's 
Fifth Connecticut, and served with it until his retirement on Jan- 
uary I, 1783. Captain Rice lived for about ten years after the 
war, the place or exact time of his death not appearing. Mem- 
ber Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




Ezra Starr, 

Lieutenant, Connecticut Troops. 

Merchant and farmer at Danbury, Conn.; born August 9, 1753. 
The following reference is made to him in the Starr Genealogy : 
"In 1776 the State paid for fitting out Lieut. Ezra Starr's com- 
pany, and in December of that year sent him for the relief of the 
army that was suffering for clothing, &c. In 1777 he was 
awarded ;^2,296, and in 1778 an additional sum for his loss by the 
burning of Danbury." He was afterwards Captain in the militia, 
and assisted in forwarding teams and supplies for Continental 
troops on the Hudson. His death occurred May 5, 1805. 



Joseph Walker, 

Captain and A.D.C., Continental Army. 

Younger brother of Capt. Robert Walker, class of 1765 ; born 
1755, at Stratford, Conn. He first appears in the service in 1777 
as Lieutenant in Col. S, B. Webb's " additional " Continental 
Regiment. On August 22d of the same year he was promoted 
Captain, and served on the Hudson and in Rhode Island. One 
of his letters, written from the Morristown huts in the winter of 



Roll of Honor. 303 

1779-80, appears on page 113. By General Orders of December 
15, 1780, Walker was appointed Aid-de-Camp, with the brevet 
rank of Major, to Major-General Parsons, commanding the Con- 
necticut Line, and remained with him until the General's resigna- 
tion in March, 1782. On retiring. Parsons recommended Walker 
to General Gates, who was about to resume command in the 
army, as follows : 

" MiDDLETOWN, April 10, 1782. 
" I am happy to hear you again think of aiding our country with your ser- 
vices in the field, and from my former experience of your friendship I am in- 
duced to request a place in your family for Captain Joseph Walker, of the 3d 
Conn. Regt. He has been with me from my appointment as Major-General to 
this time. Finding myself unable to continue longer in the army, I am unwill- 
ing to disappoint the expectations of so good a character in returning him to 
his Regt. I think you will be fully satisfied with him on acquaintance." 

Not being reappointed Aid-de-Camp, however, Walker returned 
to Captain's duty in his regiment, and later in the year became 
Brigade-Major of the Connecticut Brigade, which office he held 
until the army disbanded. He retired September, 1783, to his 
home at Stratford. After the war he became a man of note, fre- 
quently went to the Legislature, and rose to be major-general of 
militia. He died August 12, 1810, at Ballston Spa, N. Y., where 
he had gone " in hopes of recovering his delicate health." Mem- 
ber Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




Jeremiah West, 

Surgeon, Continental Army. 

Judge Zebulon West, of Tolland, Conn., a town-worthy of the 
last century, who was several times Speaker of the Colonial As- 
sembly before the Revolution, sent three of his sons to the college 
— Stephen, class of 1755, a minister ; Nathaniel, class of 1768 ; 
and Jeremiah, class of 1774, physician and surgeon. The latter 
was born at Tolland, July 20, 1753. 

Dr. West entered the service as surgeon's mate of Spencer's 



304 Yale in the Revolution, 

Connecticut Regiment soon after the Lexington alarm, appoint- 
ment dating July 22, 1775. He served two months before that as 
volunteer. The regiment served at the Boston siege and he re- 
mained with it to the end of the year. On Jan. i, 1777, Dr. 
West was commissioned surgeon's mate in Col. S. B. Webb's 
"additional" Continental Regiment, and on June 22, 1778, he 
was promoted full surgeon. This was the regiment, as stated in 
the text, which had an unusual proportion of graduates among 
its officers. The command was ordered to Rhode Island in 1778, 
and engaged in the battle there of August 29th. He continued in 
the service until March 3, 1782, when he resigned. His regiment, 
which had become the Third Connecticut, was then in camp at 
" Connecticut Village," nearly opposite West Point. Dr. West 
not only became a prominent physician, having been elected 
President of the Connecticut Medical Society in 1805, but also 
held important civil offices. He was Judge of Tolland County 
Court for fourteen years, and was member of the Assembly for 
ten sessions. He died October 18, 1806, 

Enoch Woodbridge, 

Commissary^ Continental Service. 

Afterward Chief-Justice of Vermont. He was a native of 
Stockbridge, Mass., where he was born December 25, 1750. In 
1775-76 he appears at the Boston siege, and in the reorganization 
of the troops for 1776 was made Adjutant of Col. John Paterson's 
regiment. He is entered as such on the February rolls. If he 
went with the command to the Northern Department for the remain- 
der of the year, he could not have been wounded at the battle of 
White Plains, as stated in notices of him. He is said to have 
served in 1777 in the Saratoga campaign. In 1779 he is men- 
tioned in the Vermont records as a " Continental Commissary of 
Issues," an office which he may have held to the close of the war. 
Removing to Vermont, he became first Mayor of Vergennes in 
1794, and still later Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of the 
State. He died about April i, 1805.' 

' Isaac Baldwin, of this class, is mentioned as having been in the Wyoming 
massacre in 1779, and was one of the few who escaped. He was probably the 
Adjutant of Col. Zebulon Butler's temporary force there. Baldwin was a law- 
yer of Litchfield, Conn., but removed to Pompey, N. Y., in 1811, where he 
died December 22, 1818. 



Roll of Honor. 305 

Class <?/ 1775. 



EzEKiEL Porter Belden, 

Captain, Continental Dragoons. 

Of Wethersfield, Conn., where he was born February 12, 1756. 
His father, Thomas Belden, class of 175 1, who was frequently 
identified with public affairs, commanded a regiment of militia for 
State defence. Upon the organization of the Second Regiment 
Light Dragoons, raised mainly in Connecticut, under Col. Shel- 
don, young Belden received the appointment of Lieutenant, with 
commission dated December 20, 1776, and on April 7, 1777, was 
promoted to a captaincy. He was probably at the battle of 
Germantown, October 4, 1777, where a part of the regiment was 
engaged. Subsequently he served along the Hudson, in West- 
chester County, N. Y., and Western Connecticut, and doubtless 
took part in the several skirmishes and expeditions in which the 
Dragoons were concerned. He resigned his commission June 
10, 1780. 

Like his father, Belden afterwards became a man of considera- 
ble note in Wethersfield. Hinman says of him : " He was re- 
peatedly chosen Selectman, was elected Town Clerk in 181 2, and 
held the office uninterruptedly until his death ; was a member of 
almost all the town committees, a justice of the peace, and repre- 
sentative of the town in the General Assembly forty-nine sessions, 
and was elected to two more in which he declined serving. 
He was a man of kind and social feelings, gentlemanly and amia- 
ble manners, and ready and active in the management of public 
affairs." For some years he was Lieut.-Colonel of the Sixth Mili- 
tia Regiment. He died at Wethersfield October 9, 1824. 

Stephen Row Bradley, 

Captain, Connecticut Troops. 

Afterwards U. S. Senator from Vermont. He wa . born at 
Cheshire, Conn., February 20, 1754, and after graduation taught 
school there. He commanded a company of volunteers for a 
brief term early in 1776, and a year later appears as Aid-de-Camp 
to Gen. Wooster at Rye. He is said to have been with the Gen- 



3o6 Yale in the Revohttion. 

eral when he was mortally wounded near Danbury, and also to 
have served as a Commissary and Militia Major in 1778-79. 
About 1779 he removed to Vermont, practised law, and entering 
public life held various offices. In 1791 he was elected one of 
the first Senators from Vermont, and for a time presided over 
the Senate. He served two terms. From Westminster, where he 
first lived in Vermont, he removed in 18 18 to Walpole, N. H., 
and died there December 9, 1830. 

David Bushnell, 

Captain, Sappers and Miners, Continental Army. 

Inventor Submarine Torpedo. 

The " ingenious " Bushnell was born at Saybrook, (Parish of 
Westbrook) Connecticut, about the year 1742, being nearly thirty 
years of age when he entered college. He early developed a 
fondness for mechanics, and during his Freshman year projected 
a submarine boat for offensive use against an enemy's vessel, 
which he completed about the time of graduation in 1775. This 
was built at Saybrook, and was subsequently known as the Ameri- 
can Turtle. The practicability of working the machine having been 
demonstrated, the attention of Governor Trumbull and his council 
was called to it in February, 1776, and Bushnell was requested to 
proceed with his experiments. In the following summer the 
Turtle was taken to New York to operate against the British 
man-of-war Asia, lying off Governor's Island. The attempt was 
made one night in August, but failed because of the inexperience 
of a new operator to whom Bushnell was obliged to entrust it. 
The success of the torpedo, however, as a submarine contrivance 
for the purpose intended was acknowledged. Later in the year 
another attempt was made in the Hudson, but again failed through 
unskilful management. Bushnell then turned his attention to 
other means of destroying the enemy's shipping, the Connecticut 
Council having authorized him in April, 1777, to continue in his 
experiments at the public expense, and for the next two years he 
was secretly engaged in his efforts at different points. For ex- 
ample, in August, 1777, he floated a machine against the frigate 
Cerberus, lying at anchor in Black Point Bay, west of New Lon- 
don harbor, but it struck a schooner near its stern, and de- 
molished that instead. Commodore Symonds, commanding the 



Roll of Honor. 307 

Cerberus^ was so alarmed at this destructive attempt that he re- 
turned to New York to warn naval vessels of the " secret modes 
of mischief " the rebels were devising. Again about Christmas- 
time of the same year Bushnell floated kegs of powder down the 
Delaware against the fleet off Philadelphia, but ice and tide scat- 
tering them, they proved harmless. One is said to have blown up 
a boat with two boys in it, and to have caused a general alarm, 
which prompted Hopkinson to write his humorous verses on 
" The Battle of the Kegs." Early in May, 1779, while Bushnell 
was near Norwalk, Conn., a party of the enemy landed at night 
and carried him off, with a few others, as prisoner. General Put- 
nam, in reporting the incident to Washington, says : " As the 
last-mentioned gentleman [Bushnell], who was there in the prose- 
cution of his unremitted endeavors to destroy the enemy's ship- 
ping, is personally known to very few people, it is possible he may 
not be discovered by his real name or character, and may be con- 
sidered of less consequence than he actually is." The enemy, 
fortunately, did not recognize him, and he was exchanged a few 
days later. May loth, as a civilian. Although not meeting with 
the success that his ingenuity, with proper practical apparatus, 
had made possible, Bushnell retained the confidence of those who 
knew of his work, and to-day he is regarded as our pioneer 
naval inventor. General Abbot, whose views are quoted on page 
56, says in the introduction to his valuable compilation that this 
graduate '* originated the first submarine boat capable of locomo- 
tion of which we have any accurate records. To him, therefore, 
has justly been conceded the credit of inaugurating modern tor- 
pedo warfare." 

In the summer of 1779 the corps of Sappers and Miners was 
organized in the Continental Army, and Bushnell was appointed 
one of its Captain-Lieutenants, with commission dated August 2d 
of that year. He was warmly recommended for the position by 
Governor Trumbull and others. On June, 1781, he was promoted 
full Captain, and going with Washington's force to Virginia par- 
ticipated in the siege and victory of Yorktown. Returning to the 
Hudson camps, he remained in the service until the disbandment 
of the last troops in December, 1783. He was then in command 
of his corps at West Point. One of the garrison orders from 
General Knox, dated October 25, 1783, runs as follows ; 



3o8 Yale in the Revolution. 

" Captain Bushnell of the Sappers and Miners will be so good as to super- 
intend the repair of the road from the deposit of wood to the Garrison. This 
being the only passage for the garrison, it must be put into the best state that 
our means will admit. Capt. Bushnell will call upon the General for particular 
instructions." 

After the war Captain Bushnell returned to Connecticut ; but 
having expended much of his personal property on his inventions, 
for which he received a very inadequate consideration from the 
State in 1784, he determined to try his fortunes abroad. He 
went to France, but returned, and settled as a physician in 
Georgia, taking the assumed name of Dr. Bush. There he 
lived in a retired manner until his death in 1826. Member 
Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 





Henry Daggett, 

Lieutenant, Continental Army. 

Eldest son of President Daggett, born February 24 (?), 1758. 
He was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Colonel Swift's 
Seventh Connecticut Line, April 28, 1778, and probably joined 
his regiment at Valley Forge. In that case he must have been with 
the army at Monmouth in June following. April 11, 1780, he 
was commissioned First Lieutenant and served as Quartermaster 
of the regiment, which was thereafter stationed generally in the 
Highlands. From 1781 to 1783 he was in the Second Regiment 
under Swift, and left the service with it at the close of the war. 
After the Revolution he was long a merchant in New Haven, where 
he died July 20, 1843. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 




Ebenezer Huntington, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, Continental Army. 

Son of Hon. Jabez Huntington, class of 1741, who has already 
been noticed as Senior Major-General or Connecticut militia. 
He was born at Norwich, December 20, 1754. The circum- 



Roll of Honor, 309 

stances under which he entered the service — his spirited flight 
from college to camp without permission after the Lexington 
alarm — have been mentioned in the text (p. 9), and frequent ref- 
erences to him follow.* 

In the Cincinnati Society records he dates his war career from 
April 21, 1775, the day he left New Haven. Going forward by 
way of Wethersfield to the Boston camps, he served there as a 
volunteer until September 8th, when he was appointed lieutenant 
in Captain Chester's company, in Spencer's regiment. His 
brother, Colonel Jedidiah H., recommending him to the governor 
in a letter of August 25th, says : " He has in several instances, 
whilst at this camp, exhibited evidences of his courage." January 
I, 1776, Huntington became First Lieutenant in Col. Wyllys' 
regiment and served with it to the close of the Boston siege and 
through the campaign around New York. He was doubtless at 
the battle of Long Island, where his regiment was stationed at 
one of the Flatbush passes, and again in the retreat from New 
York and subsequent operations. During this campaign he was 
promoted Captain, and on October 26, 1776, he received the tem- 
porary appointment of Dep. Adj. General to Heath's division, 
which position he retained to the end of the year. 

Upon the organization of the Continental Line Huntington 
was promoted, January i, 1777, Major of Col. S. B. Webb's "ad- 
ditional " regiment raised in Connecticut, which has been men- 
tioned as having more Yale graduates among its officers than any 
other, and which was intended to be an elite corps in the army. 
It saw much service and sustained its reputation. During the 
year 1777 it formed a part of Putnam's force on the Hudson, and 
early in December engaged in a secret expedition to the Long 
Island shore. This met with failure, however, and cost the regi- 
ment its colonel and other officers taken prisoners of war. Hun- 

' In a letter dated September 25, 1775, published in the family genealogy, 
Huntington admits that he left college without leave, and states furthermore 
that if the Faculty declined to award him a certificate or diploma of gradua- 
tion on that account, Pres. Langdon, of Harvard, stood ready to give him one. 
If the date of this letter is correctly printed, Huntington simply had not heard 
that the Yale Faculty had voted him the degree of A.B., July 25th previous, 
when all the members of his class received the same. August 8th following 
Harvard awarded him the honorary degree. The minutes of the Fellows at 
Watertown read : " Voted, That Ebenezer Huntington, of Norwich, admitted 
to the degree of Bachelor of Arts this year at Yale College, be admitted in this 
College ad eundem." 



3IO Yale in the Revohttion. 

tington was fortunate enough to get back safely. Writing to Gen. 
Gates, Gov. Trumbull says : " Major Eben'. Huntington with 
eighty men escaped and came to New London the morning of the 
14th inst. [Dec] at Day Brake." Others returned at different 
points, and the regiment reassembled in winter quarters. In the 
summer of 1778 it was despatched with other troops into Rhode 
Island, where it fought well in the battle of August 29th. The 
Lieut.-Colonel leaving the service presently, Major Huntington 
commanded the regiment for more than two years after the bat- 
tle ; and that he kept it in excellent shape appears from Steu- 
ben's criticism on page no. Remaining in Rhode Island until 
the fall of 1779, the regiment next appears in winter quarters at 
Morristown, N. J., 1779-80, and in June, 1780, it took part in the 
action at Springfield under Huntington's command, as stated on 
page 117. See also letters pp. 1 13-14. In the following autumn 
the Major was promoted Lieut.-Colonel, with commission dating 
October 10, 1780. He had received the appointment before that, 
but a dispute arose between himself and Lieut. -Col. Ebenezer 
Gray, class of 1763, as to seniority of rank, which caused a long 
delay, resulting, however, in Huntington's favor — his commission 
being made to ante-date Gray's by five days. The case was 
warmly contested, as it was referred successively to the Governor 
and Council of Connecticut, to the Board of War, to Washington, 
and by the latter to a court of inquiry, consisting of Major-Gen- 
erals Gates, Heath, and St. Clair, and Colonels Greaton and Og- 
den. A final decision was not reached until October, 1782. On 
June 27, 1781, Huntington was detailed to serve as Lieut.-Colonel 
of Col. Scamraell's Light Infantry regiment, which formed the 
van of the army, and marched with Washington to Yorktown. 
Upon Scammell's death at the opening of the siege, Huntington 
commanded one half the regiment as a separate corps and Col. 
Laurens the other half, both being assigned to Lafayette's Light 
Division on the right of the line. For a short time during the 
operations and after he is said to have served as Aid to Gen. Lin- 
coln. Returning to the North, Huntington remained with the 
army until the final disbandment in November, 1783. He was 
then Lieut.-Colonel of Swift's regiment. 

After the war Col. Huntington resided at Norwich as a business 
man, went to Congress two terms, 1810 and 181 7, and held the 
rank of Brigadier and Adjutant-General of the Connecticut mili- 



Roll of Honor. 



311 



tia for several years. He died June 17, 1834. Member Connecti- 
cut Cincinnati Society. 




David Judson, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

A native of Woodbury, Conn.; born March 9, 1755. Accord- 
ing to the Cincinnati record his service in the army began June 
7, 1776, when he probably joined one of the Connecticut regi- 
ments in Wadsworth's brigade at New York. January i, 1777, 
he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in Colonel Chandler's 
Eighth Connecticut Line, which fought at Germantown and win- 
tered at Valley Forge, 1777-78. Judson was certainly at the lat- 
ter camp, as in after life he used to recall the fatigues and hard- 
ships of the troops there. March 10, 1778, he was promoted 
First Lieutenant, and was doubtless present at Monmouth in June 
following. In 1779-80 he acted as Brigade Quartermaster of 
Parsons' brigade. Wintering at Morristown, he remained with 
Washington's army, generally along the Hudson, until the close 
of the war, having in the meantime, May 29, 1782, been promoted 
Captain in the First Regiment under Col. Zebulon Butler. Re- 
turning home, he rose to some prominence, and from 1794 to 
1801 was Brigadier-General in the State Militia. In 1806 he re- 
moved with his family to Black Lake, in the town of Oswegatchie, 
N. Y., where Ogdensburg now stands, and died there, February 
18, 1818. His son, David C. Judson, was for fifty years identified 
with the growth and interests of Ogdensburg. Member Connecti- 
cut Cincinnati Society. 



312 Yale in the Revolution. 

John Mix, 

Lieutenant, Continental Army. 

Of Farmington, Conn, ; born 1755. He entered the army as 
Ensign in the Third Connecticut Regiment, Colonel Wyllys, 
January i, 1777, and served at first along the Hudson, and in 
fortifying West Point. April 28, 1778, he was promoted Lieu- 
tenant and Adjutant of Col. Butler's Second Connecticut Regi- 
ment, and afterwards acted as Quartermaster. From January i, 
1781, to the close of the war he was in Col. S. B. Webb's regi- 
ment in the Highlands. He remained in service until September, 
1783. After the war Mix settled in Farmington, and held various 
offices. He kept the position of Town Clerk for thirty-two years 
from 1791, represented his town in the Assembly, six sessions ex- 
cepted, for twenty-five years, and from 1810 to 1820 was Probate 
Judge. In 1796 the governor appointed him Quartermaster- 
General of the State Militia, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. 
He was thereafter known as Col. Mix. In 1776 he married 
Martha Cowles, daughter of Solomon and Martha (Spencer) 
Cowles, who died February 23, 1826, aged 72. Col. Mix himself 
died April 29, 1834, leaving no descendants. Member Connecti- 
cut Cincinnati Society. 




James Morris, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Resident of Litchfield, Conn,, where he was born January 19, 
1752, He first appears in service as Ensign of Col. Fisher Gay's 
Connecticut regiment, Wadsworth's brigade, which formed a 
part of Washington's army in the campaign of 1776 around New 
York. His commission from the governor was dated June 20th 
of that year. He was at the Brooklyn front during the battle of 
Long Island, and passed through the subsequent experiences of 
the army to the battle of White Plains. January i, 1777, he re- 
ceived the appointment of First Lieutenant in the new Fifth 
Connecticut Regiment, Col, Bradley's, and served with it in 
Pennsylvania, where he was taken prisoner at the battle of Ger- 



Roll of Honor. 313 

mantown, October 4th. His own interesting account of his cap- 
ture appears in the extract from his journal, printed on page 74. 
He remained a prisoner at Philadelphia for about eight months, 
and then embarked with other prisoners for New York, where he 
was paroled to certain limits around Brooklyn. He took up his 
quarters at Mr. John Lott's house in Bushwick, and was not ex- 
changed until January 3, 1781. How he spent his time there ap- 
pears from his pen in Doc. 57, Vol. III., L. I. Hist. Soc. series. 
During his captivity he was promoted Captain-Lieutenant, July 
29, 1780, and full Captain on August 2 2d of the same year. 

His case is referred to in Division Orders of June 23, 1781, as 
follows : 

" Capt. Morris being a Prisoner at the time of his promotion, and having 
had no opportunity of being heard on his claim of Rank with Capt. Weed, a 
Court of Enquiry is therefore to sit this afternoon at tlie President's Marquee 
to hear the claims of those officers and report with their opinion. Col. Butler 
will preside. A Capt. from the 2d and 4th Regts." 

In the summer of 1781, not long after rejoining the army, he 
was detached with his company to serve in Col. Alex. Scammell's 
Light Infantry Regiment, organized for special duty at the front. 
It engaged in some skirmishes in Westchester County, and then 
marched to Yorktown, Va,, with Washington. There it was as- 
signed to Lafayette's Light Division on the right of the line of in- 
vestment, and supported the column under Hamilton, which 
assaulted one of the enemy's redoubts on the night of October 
14th. Captain Morris' reference to the surrender appears on page 
138. Returning to the Highlands, he remained in the service un- 
til January i, 1783. 

After the war Capt. Morris returned to Litchfield and estab- 
lished the ** Morris Academy " for young men preparing for col- 
lege or business life, which became widely known and patronized. 
He represented the town in the Assembly several sessions. His 
death occurred April 20, 1820. Member Connecticut Cincinnati 
Society. 



314 Yale in the Revolution, 

Simeon Newell, 

Captain^ Connecticut Troops. 

A native of Southington, Conn.; born February 5, 1748. 
Descendant of Thomas Newell, one of the first settlers of Farm- 
ington. He entered the service in the summer of 1775 as Ser- 
geant in Major Clark's company, Col. Jed. Huntington's regi- 
ment, and served through the siege of Boston. October 19, 1775, 
he was promoted Ensign on the Colonel's recommendation, and 
again promoted, January i, 1776, Lieutenant in Huntington's 
reorganized regiment, which was called the Seventeenth Foot. 
This regiment served through the New York campaign, and was 
closely engaged at the battle of Long Island under Gen. Parsons. 
It fought along the northwesterly edge of the present Greenwood 
Cemetery, and lost heavily in prisoners. Newell, if with his 
regiment at the time, escaped, and served to the end of the year. 
On the October returns, shortly before the battle of White Plains, 
he appears as one of the only nine company officers in camp fit 
for duty. He was then recommended for a lieutenancy in the 
new Connecticut Continental Line ; but his name does not ap- 
pear on the rolls, although his Cincinnati certificate, dated 1786, 
states that he was Captain. In 1780 he seems to have been on 
special duty, under the governor's directions, ferreting out traitors 
and Tories, who were suspected of mischief at various points. In 
one letter he thanks the governor for his recognition of his ser- 
vices. Some years after the war he removed to Sodus Bay, 
N. Y., where his eldest son resided, and died there in 1813. 
Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 

John Noyes, 

Surgeon, Continental Army. 

A physician of Lyme, Conn.; born 1756. He was the eldest 
son of Judge William and Eunice (Marvin) Noyes, the judge 
being a grandson of Rev. Moses Noyes, early pastor at Lyme. 
Dr. John's younger brothers, William and Matthew Noyes, also 
graduated at Yale. William received an appointment as Ensign 



Roll of Honor. 315 

in the army, and his name was placed on the rolls about the time 
of his graduation, but he did not accept. 

Dr. Noyes was commissioned Surgeon of Col. Josiah Starr's 
First Connecticut Regiment, October i, 1778, and served to the 
close of the war. He was stationed generally on the Hudson. 
Returning to Lyme after the war, he practised his profession suc- 
cessfully until his death, July 11, i8o8. Member Connecticut 
Cincinnati Society. 




William Peck, 

Deputy Adj.-General, Continental Army. 

A descendant of William Peck, one of the founders of New 
Haven Colony. He belonged to the Lyme branch of the family, 
and was born at that place December 15, 1755. Col. Peck en- 
tered the service during the siege of Boston, and remained in it 
until after the surrender of Yorktown. He appears first as Adju- 
tant of Huntington's Connecticut regiment — the Seventeenth Con- 
tinental Foot, — January i, 1776, from which it would seem that he 
had been in camp before that. He went with the army to New 
York, and on June 23, 1776, was appointed, by Washington's or- 
ders, Brigade Major of Spencer's brigade, and continued in the 
same capacity when it was placed under Gen. Parsons' command. 
Upon Spencer's promotion as Major-General, Peck was appointed 
his Aid-de-Camp, with the brevet rank of Major, August 14, 1776. 
Spencer's division was transferred to the Brooklyn front, and en- 
gaged in part in the battle of August 27th. Major Peck was 
doubtless active there and during the retreat, as well as in the re- 
treat from New York on September 15th following. The battle 
of White Plains, October 28th, opened with a skirmish between 
the enemy and some regiments of his division. In 1777, when 
Gen. Spencer was sent to take command in Rhode Island, Peck 
went with him as Deputy Adjutant-General of the forces there. 
This position he held under Generals Sullivan, Gates, and Heath, 
who successively commanded that department. The following 



3i6 Yale in the Revolution. 

MSS. note from Sullivan to Gates shows the former's apprecia- 
tion of him : 

" Head Quarters, Providence, 

" March the 26th, 1779. 
"Dear General: 

" I beg leave to introduce to your Acquaintance, and recommend to your 
Patronage, Col? William Peck, a Gentleman who has acted as Adjutant-General 
in this Department since I have had the honor of commanding it. His atten- 
tion to and observance of the duties of his station as an officer have been so gen- 
erally acknowledg'd, and his private character so uniformly unexceptionable, 
that I think myself fully justified in this Recommendation. 

" I have the honor to subscribe myself, with Esteem, Dear Genl. 

" Yr. obedient and very hble. Sevt. 
" Jno. Sullivan. 
"The Honble. M. Genl. Gates." 

After the French contingent arrived in Rhode Island in the 
summer of 1780, Peck doubtless met many of its officers. The 
Marquis de Chastellux makes this reference to a visit at his house 
in Providence : 

"The 13th (Nov., 1780) I breakfasted with Colonel Peck: He is an 
amiable and polite young man, who passed the last summer with General Heath 
at Newport. He received me in a charming small house, where he lived with 
his wife, who is young also, and has a pleasing countenance, but without any 
thing striking. This little establishment, where comfort and simplicity reign, 
gave an idea of that sweet and serene state of happiness which appears to have 
taken refuge in the New World, after compounding it with pleasure, to which 
it has left the Old," 

The Colonel retired from the service in October-November, 
1781, and settled at Providence, where he died May 19, 1832. 
For nearly twenty years he was United States Marshal for Rhode 
Island, a position to which Washington first appointed him. 
Member Rhode Island Cincinnati Society. 




^.^ c/C<^>2^^ e^^'^^^^' 




Roll of Honor. 317 

Richard Sill, 

Major and A.D.C., Continental Army. 

A native of Lyme, Conn., where he was born July 15, 1755. 
He appears first at the siege of Boston, 1775-76, and is entered on 
the rolls of Col. Parsons' Connecticut regiment, January i, 1776, 
as Lieutenant and Paymaster. The regiment, which was the 
" Tenth Foot " of that year's establishment, took an active part 
in the campaign around New York. Sill was with it present at the 
battle of Long Island, and the retreat to New York. On the day 
the city was abandoned, September 15th, he was caught in the 
hurried march and panic of the troops, and mentions some of the 
incidents in testimony he gave before a court of inquiry. 
January i, 1777, he was reappointed Lieutenant and Paymaster 
in Col. Chandler's Eighth Regiment of the new Connecticut 
Line, which served in the Pennsylvania campaign at Germantown 
and Valley Forge. He was probably at Monmouth in June, 
1778, and is reported " sick in camp " at White Plains, where the 
army was stationed after the battle, in August following. During 
the winter of 1779-80 he was at the Morristown huts. Promoted 
Captain April 22, 1781, in Sherman's Fifth Connecticut, he 
served along the Hudson, and for a time was assistant to Col. 
Grosvenor, Deputy Adjutant-General of the Connecticut Division. 
Still later, September 26, 1781, he was invited to become Aid-de- 
Camp, with the rank of Brevet-Major, to Maj.-Gen. Lord Stir- 
ling, with whom he remained until his death on January 14, 1783. 
His letter reporting the General's death to Washington appears 
on page 148. The Major then being at Albany, studied law in 
the office of Aaron Burr, where he also met Hamilton, and estab- 
lished himself in the profession in that city. His career was suc- 
cessful, but cut short by impaired health, his death occurring 
June 4, 1790, at Bethlehem, N. Y., at the residence of Col. 
Francis Nicoll, whose daughter Elizabeth Major Sill had married 
May 2, 1785. He served two sessions in the Assembly, and not 
long before his decease had been appointed one of the New York 
commissioners on the disputed Vermont boundary. Noticing 
his death, the Albany Gazette says : " It would be a piece of in- 
justice not to observe on this occasion that, independent of the 
services of this gentleman in the army of the United States during 



3i8 Yale in the Revolution. 

the late war, his good sense, affable manners, and amiable dispo- 
sition, added to the strictest integrity in public as well as private 
life, rendered his character in the highest degree respectable, and 
his death a public misfortune, as well as a most distressing loss 
to an amiable, disconsolate wife and two lovely infants." Mem- 
ber Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 



^jj^^^j^;^^^^,^^:^^^, 



Benjamin Welles, 

Commissary and Surgeon, Connecticut. 

Dr. Welles, the son of Rev. Dr. Noah Welles, of the class of 
1 741, was born at Stamford, November 22, 1756. The State rec- 
ords show that on June 10, 1777, he was appointed Issuing 
Commissary of Supplies for the Connecticut Continental troops. 
Studying medicine he appears also to have served as Surgeon at 
a later period of the war. Subsequently he settled in the practice 
of his profession at Wayne, N. Y., and again at Kinderhook, 
where he died April 19, 1813. 

Roger Welles, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

An active light-infantry ofificer of the Connecticut Line. He 
was a descendant of Thomas Welles, one of the early governors of 
the Colony ; born at Wethersfield, December 29, 1753. Teach- 
ing school until the close of 1776, he joined the army as Lieuten- 
ant of Col. S. B. Webb's " additional " Continental Regiment, 
with commission dating January i, 1777. During the summer 
and fall of that year he served under Putnam along the Hudson, 
and in the first part of the following year assisted in the construc- 
tion of the works at West Point. May 16, 1778, he was promoted 
First Lieutenant, and as such was doubtless at the battle of 
Rhode Island on August 29th. He was Lieutenant at one time 
in Capt. J. Walker's and again in Wooster's company, both gradu- 
ates. His classmate, Major Huntington, commanded the regi- 
ment most of the time in that department. During the cold 
winter of 1779-80 he encamped with the army at Morristown, his 
regiment then being in Stark's brigade, which in June following 



Roll of Hono7\ 319 

took part in the action near Springfield, N. J., under Gen, Greene. 
When Lafayette's Light Infantry Corps was organized for that 
year, Welles was assigned with Capt. Wyllys, class of 1773, to one 
of the Connecticut companies. Meanwhile he was promoted 
Captain, to rank from April 9, 1780, and when Lafayette marched 
to Virginia with a Light Corps in February, 1781, the Captain was 
again detached to serve with him, with Wyllys this time as the 
Major of his battalion. Under Lafayette he experienced all the 
fatigues, hardships, and excitements of his famous campaign 
against Cornwallis, and shared in the final success at Yorktown. 
Extracts from some of the Captain's letters from Virginia appear 
on pages 133-42. At the siege of Yorktown his battalion, un- 
der Col. Gimat and Major Wyllys, stormed one of the enemy's 
forts on the night of October 14th, and thereby hastened the sur- 
render of Cornwallis. Welles, who was an officer of fine presence, 
being six feet two inches tall, was among the first to enter the 
fort. Returning to the Hudson camps, the Captain was for the 
third time assigned to the Light Corps, which in 1782 was com- 
manded by his own Colonel, Samuel B. Webb. He continued in 
the army until November, 1783, when he retired with Col. Swift's, 
or the last Connecticut regiment in the service. 

After the war he settled at Newington, and represented the 
town in the Assembly every year from 1790 until his death on 
May 27, 1795. He was at the time Brig.-General of the Seventh 
Brigade of the State Militia. Member Connecticut Cincinnati 
Society. 




Elisha Scott Williams, 

Land and Naval Service. 

Afterwards a Baptist minister ; born, probably, at East Hart- 
ford, Conn., October 7, 1757. In a notice of him as being the 
oldest living graduate of the college at the time, the Yale Literary 



320 Yale in the Revolution. 

Magazine for August, 1844, says : " There was no public com- 
mencement at his graduation on account of the war. He was in 
the battle of Trenton ; afterwards going to sea, was in an action 
with the British ship Levant, of thirty-two guns, in which the cap- 
tain of the American ship was killed." The American vessel was 
the General Hancock, a private armed cruiser from Boston, com- 
manded by Capt. Hardy. After a close engagement which oc- 
curred September 19, 1778, the Levant was blown up. 

The above is the only record that can be found respecting Mr. 
Williams, Studying for the ministry, he preached first in Maine, 
and from 1803 to 1812. at Beverly, Mass. He died at the latter 
place February 3, 1845.' 

Class of 1 776. 



Eleazar Williams Howe, 

Connecticut Service. 

Of Killingly, Conn. We have the brief reference here that im- 
mediately after graduation Howe went into the army with Lieut.- 
Col, Experience Storrs' regiment, and " died within a month." In 
that case he was with the main army in the vicinity of White 
Plains after the loss of New York, and probably died in October- 
November, 1776. The regiment was the Fifth Militia, and had 
been ordered into the field for two or three months' service in the 
fall of that year. 

Daniel Lyman, 

Major and A.D.C., Continental Army. 

Afterwards Chief-Justice of Rhode Island ; born at Durham, 
Conn., January 27, 1756. In the history of that town he is said 
to have been one of the students who left college upon the Lex- 
ington alarm and went to the Boston camps. It is also stated that 
he accompanied Arnold to Ticonderoga, and was at the capture 
of that place in May, 1775. Returning to his studies, he gradu- 
ated with his class, and very soon after appears in Washington's 
army in the position of Brigade-Major of Fellows' Massachusetts 

' Rev. Noble Everett, of this class, is said to have served as Chaplain. — Hist, 
of Winchester, Conn. 



Roll of Honor. 321 



State Brigade, appointment dating October 17, 1776. He was 
present at the battle of White Plains, and thereafter continued in 
the service to the close of the war. Upon the organization of the 
Continental Line he joined Col, W. R. Lee's " additional " regi- 
ment, raised in Massachusetts, with the rank of Captain, commis- 
sion dating January i, 1777. The regiment was largely recruited 
from Boston, where the Captain remained for over a year. Gen. 
Heath at that time commanded the district, and on April 2, 1778, 
he appointed Lyman " Town Major " of the city, his duties cor- 
responding somewhat to those of Provost Marshal. On May 9th 
following, the General invited him to become a member of his 
staff with the rank of Brevet-Major, a position which Lyman ac- 
cepted and retained throughout the contest. During the opera- 
tions in Rhode Island in the following summer, 1778, he acted as 
volunteer aid upon the stafif of Gen. Sullivan, and as such wrote 
frequent letters to Heath at Boston, giving details of the opera- 
tions. He appears to have gone to Rhode Island at the request 
of the latter General. In the summer of 1779 Heath returned to 
Washington's army in the Highlands, and assumed command of 
the Massachusetts and Connecticut divisions on the east side of 
the river above Peekskill, Lyman being with him. The following 
winter he again spent in Boston, and in the summer, 1780, he ac- 
companied Heath to Rhode Island, where they met the French offi- 
cers upon their arrival with the French contingent. Upon the dis- 
covery of Arnold's treachery in September, Washington requested 
Heath to repair immediately to the army, and from that time he 
remained with it until June, 1783, when the General and his Aids 
retired from the service. 

After the war Major Lyman settled as a lawyer at Newport, 
became Judge of the Superior Court and then Chief- Justice. In 
May, 1790, Washington appointed him Surveyor of Newport, but 
he was removed by the next administration. Respecting this 
change the Connecticut Courant has the following item in the issue 
for March 2, 1802 : " The office of Surveyor and Inspector for 
the port of Newport, which was conferred on Major Daniel Lyman 
by President Washington, as a mark of the nation's favor for his 
services in her cause, has been taken from him and presented to 
Mr. John Slocum, of Newport, as a reward for his services in the 
cause of Mr. y^efferson." The Major died at North Providence, 



322 Yale in the Revolution, 

where he lived later in life, October i6, 1830. Member Rhode 
Island Cincinnati Society, of which he was President in 1818. 

William Lyman, 

Massachusetts Service. 

In a sketch of General Lyman, printed in the History of Dur- 
ham, Conn., it is stated that he " served through the Revolution." 
His name, however, does not appear on Continental rolls during 
the last half of the war. He was probably the William Lyman 
who served with militia regiments at different times. There is 
such a name on the list of officers of Col. Dike's command, which 
was in Rhode Island with Gen. Sullivan in August- September, 
1778. 

Lyman was born at Northampton, Mass., December 7, 1755. 
During Shay's rebellion he was Aid to Gen, Shepard, with rank of 
Major, and from 1796 to 1800 was Brigadier-General of State 
Militia. He became a member of Congress and subsequently 
received the appointment of Consul-General of the United States 
at London, where he died, September 2, 181 1. He was buried 
at Gloucester Cathedral, and afterwards his friends erected a 
monument to his memory in the old cemetery at Northampton, 
Mass. 

Samuel Mills, 

Lieutenant y Continental Dragoons. 

Afterwards Rev. Samuel Mills, of Chester, Conn. ; born in the 
town of Canton, 1753. Joining the army as Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant of the Second Regiment Light Dragoons, under Col. Shel- 
don, January 12, 1777, Mr. Mills engaged in the Pennsylvania 
campaign in the fall of the year, and was doubtless present at the 
battle of Germantown. Two months later, on the night of De- 
cember 14, 1777, he was taken prisoner while on duty, with a cap- 
tain and twenty men of his regiment, " near Vandeering's Mills 
on the ridge road running by the Schuylkill to Philadelphia." 
The party was surprised and five of them captured, "whose 
names," says the captain in his account of the affair, " are, 



Roll of Honor. 



6^0 



for the satisfaction of any concerned, Quartermaster Samuel 
Mills, Isaac Brown, John Chauncey, Ephraim Kirby, and Na- 
both Lewis." They were disarmed, plundered of their spurs, 
watches, and valuables, and then ordered to be killed. " Not- 
withstanding the entreaties and prayers of the unfortunate 
prisoners for mercy," continues the captain, " the soldiers fell 
upon them (the officers setting the example), and after cut- 
ting, hacking, and stabbing them till they supposed they were 
dead, they left them (Brown excepted, whom after most cruelly 
mangling they shot), setting fire to the barn to consume any one 
who might be in it. Mr. Mills, after being wounded in several 
places in the head, had his life spared and is now a prisoner. 
Brown and Chauncey are dead. Kirby and Lewis have been 
properly taken care of and I trust will recover." — Conn. Gazette, 
January 16, 1778. Mills was confined in Philadelphia a few 
months and then removed to New Lots, near Brooklyn, L. I., 
where he remained until exchanged in 1780. While a prisoner 
he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the Dragoons, June 2, 1778, 
but upon his exchange, resigned, October 8, 1780. 

After the war Lieut. Mills studied for the ministry, and in 
1786 became pastor of the Fourth Congregational Church of 
Saybrook, now in Chester, where he died February 17, 1814. 
Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 

Heathcote Muirson, 

Volunteer. 

Member of a prominent loyalist family of Setauket, L. I. 
The father, Dr. George Muirson, was a physician of some dis- 
tinction, but on account of his sentiments the Legislature of New 
York, during the war, attainted his person and confiscated his 
estates. He left the country, but subsequently returned and died 
at New Haven, Conn., February 20, 1786. A son, Sylvester, 
brother of Heathcote, class of 177 1, was also a loyalist. 

Heathcote Muirson espoused the Revolutionary cause and sac- 
rificed his life in it. During hostilities he lived in Connecticut 
and served on expeditions as a volunteer. In particular, he took 
part in Maj. Tallmadge's attack on Fort George, L. I., November 
22, 1780, and acquitted himself so well that the Major mentioned 
him honorably to Washington, who in reply approved of the for- 



324 Yale in the Revohction. 

mer's recommendation that Muirson be appointed to the first 
vacancy among the ofificers of the Second Light Dragoons. 

On July 1 2th of the following year, 1781, he engaged in an- 
other attack, this time against Lloyd's Neck, L. I. The enter- 
prise was conducted under the protection of two or three French 
ships. It is stated that Muirson went along as a guide and volun- 
teer, and that while he was reconnoitring the Tory fort at that 
point his arm was carried away by a cannon-shot. Whatever the 
particular service he was engaged in, he was mortally wounded on 
the occasion and died soon after. As to his burial-place, tradi- 
tion has it that he was taken by the French to Newport and 
buried there, which is not improbable. 

Joel Northrop, 

Surgeotis Mate, Connecticut. 

Younger brother of Lieutenant Amos Northrop, class of 1762 ; 
born at New Milford, Conn., July 27, 1753. Studying medicine, 
he acted as Surgeon's Mate at the Military Hospital at Danbury 
for a time. In 1779 he removed to New Haven to practise his 
profession, and died there February 9, 1807. A biographical 
sketch of him appears in Vol. II., New Haven Historical Society 
Publications. 

Nathan Preston, 

Commissary, Connecticut. 

A native .of Woodbury, Conn., where he was born April 20, 
1756. On June 4, 1777, the State Council appointed him Com- 
missary of Issues for the Connecticut Continental troops, a posi- 
tion which he appears to have held for some time. After the war 
he attained considerable prominence as a lawyer, held offices, and 
became a judge. His death occurred September 20, 1822. 

Augustine Taylor, 

Lieutenant and Paymaster, Continental Army. 

Son of Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, class of 1745, who is spoken of 
in Sprague's " Annals of the Pulpit " as " a zealous advocate of 
the American Revolution." " One of the ways in which he 
evinced this was by remitting to his people, during the contest, an 
entire year's salary. This fact the parish records show, under his 
hand, bearing date April, 1779." 

Augustine Taylor was born at New Milford, Conn., November 



Roll of Honor. 325 

28, 1755. He joined the Connecticut Continental Line as Second 
Lieutenant or Ensign of the Seventh Regiment, under Col. Heman 
Swift, commission dated January i, 1777. The regiment went 
into camp at Peekskill on the Hudson, and in September joined 
Washington's army in Pennsylvania, taking part in the battle of 
Germantown, October 4th. Doubtless Lieut. Taylor was there, as 
he was at Valley Forge during the following winter, 1777-78. He 
was also present at the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, where 
he suffered some permanent injury to his eyesight. A month 
later, July 26th, he was appointed Paymaster of his regiment, and 
on June 20, 1779, received promotion to a first lieutenancy. 
During the following winter, 1779-80, the regiment encamped 
with the army at the Morristown huts, and thereafter was gen- 
erally stationed with the Connecticut Line in the Highlands. 
Lieut. Taylor remained with it until his resignation June 25, 1781. 
Returning to New Milford, he became an influential resident, 
and in 1812 was appointed Major-General of State Militia, with 
the command of the posts at New Haven and New London. 
Not being in good health at the time, his exertions led to brain 
affection, which terminated in his decease February 10, 1816. 
He is described as a martial and " elegant-looking man." May 
5, 1782, he married Huldah Canfield, daughter of Col. Samuel 
Canfield, of New Milford, who survived her husband about thirty 
years. The General was the uncle of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Taylor, 
class of 1807, the New Haven theologian. 




James Watson, 

Captain, Continental Army. 

Afterwards United States Senator from New York ; born at 
Woodbury, now Bethlehem, Conn., April 6, 1750. He descended 
from John Watson, an early settler of Hartford, and was one of 
four brothers who served in the Revolutionary army. Of these 
one died in camp, another was severely wounded, and the third 
became a Captain in the Continental Line. 



326 Yale in the Revolution, 

At the close of his Senior year, Watson received the appoint- 
ment of Lieutenant in Col. P. B. Bradley's State Regiment, with 
commission dated June lo, 1776, and served until the end of the 
year in the campaign around New York. His regiment was gen- 
erally stationed on the Jersey side, along Bergen Heights, and at 
the loss of Fort Washington in November suffered heavily in 
prisoners. Returning to Connecticut, he joined Col. Samuel B. 
Webb's "additional" Continental Regiment, with the rank of 
Captain, to date from January i, 1777. The regiment went into 
camp at Peekskill on the Hudson, but some disagreement arising 
in regard to the seniority of the captains, Watson retired about 
July 15th. In a letter of that date written from camp, he refers 
to his claims as based upon "former services." Later in the war, 
April, 1780, he was appointed Purchasing Commissary for the 
Connecticut Line, and appears to have continued in that position 
for some time. Referring to this, a writer from Hartford says : 
" Our Assembly have adopted the plan of Congress on finance. 
They have also taken up the supplies for the army, and appointed 
Col. Champion for the purchase of cattle, pork, flour, etc., and 
Capt. Watson for the purchase of rum and hay. . . . To- 
morrow the Captain begins his purchases, and you may be sure 
he will succeed." 

Removing to New York City after the war, Captain Watson 
became a successful merchant and prominent citizen. He was 
appointed Naval Officer, went to the Assembly several sessions, 
and was elected Speaker, served two terms, 1796-98, as State Sen- 
ator, and was then elected United States Senator. This last posi- 
tion he retained about two years, resigning March 19, 1800. He 
also appears among the Regents of the University of New York 
after 1795. It was largely under his auspices that the New Eng- 
land Society in New York was organized. His death occurred at 
his residence. No. 6 State Street, on May 15, 1806. Member 
Connecticut and New York Cincinnati Societies.' 




' Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, of this class, a native of Litchfield, Conn., is stated 
to have been an officer in the Revolutionary War. He became a well-known 
Episcopalian clergyman, settled first at Stratford, Conn., and later at Roches- 
ter. N. Y. 



Roll of Honor. 327 

Class of 1777. 



Ebenezer Ballantine, 

Surgeons Mate, Continental Army. 

Dr. Ballantine was born July 14, 1756, at Westfield, Mass., 
where his father, Rev, John Ballantine, who graduated at Harvard 
in 1735, was long the settled Congregational pastor. After study- 
ing surgery and medicine he entered the service as Surgeon's 
Mate of Col. Thomas Nixon's Sixth Massachusetts Continental 
Regiment, May 20, 1780, and remained with it to the close of the 
war. His regiment belonged to the main army on the Hudson, 
and was at times stationed at West Point. Joel Barlow, class of 
1778, was the Chaplain of his brigade, and John Porter, class of 
1770, Major of the regiment. After the war Ballantine continued 
his medical studies, and settled as a physician at Schodach Land- 
ing, N. Y., where he practised with much success. In 1822 he 
removed to Marion, Ohio, and died there in the following year, 
1823. Member Massachusetts Cincinnati Society. 

John Barker, 

Lieutenant, Continental Army. 

Born at Lebanon, Conn., 1757. With his classmates, Cogswell 
and Selden, he joined Col. Henry Jackson's Massachusetts Con- 
tinental Regiment, to rank as Lieutenant from January i, 1777. 
He joined Washington's army in Pennsylvania some time after 
the battle of Germantown, and wintered at or near Valley Forge. 
At Monmouth, June, 1778, his regiment was closely engaged, and 
soon after marched to Rhode Island, and fought in the battle of 
August 29th. On this occasion it was complimented on its good 
conduct. Lieut. Chipman speaks of meeting his classmates, 
Barker, Cogswell, and Selden, at Stamford as they were on the 
march to Rhode Island. Lieut. Barker continued in the service 
until about March i, 1779, when he resigned. After the war he 
settled as a physician at New Haven, where he died February 24, 
1813. 




328 Yale in the Revohition. 

Nathaniel Chipman, 

Lieutenant, Continental Army. 

Afterwards United States Senator from Vermont ; born at 
Salisbury, Conn., November 15, 1752, He was commissioned 
January i, 1777, Ensign in the Second Connecticut Continental 
Line, Col. Charles Webb, and late in the year joined Washington's 
army in Pennsylvania, where in December he engaged in the 
sharp skirmish of White Marsh. That winter the regiment en- 
camped at Valley Forge, where he was promoted First Lieuten- 
ant December 29, 1777, and in June, 1778, he was present at the 
battle of Monmouth. The army then encamped at White Plains, 
where Lieut. Chipman resigned his commission October 16, 
1778. Extracts from one of his letters from Valley Forge, and 
also from some of his poetic efforts, appear on pages 11, 85, 86. 

Upon leaving the army Chipman studied law, and in the spring 
of 1779 removed to Tinmouth, Vt., to practise. There he rapidly 
rose to distinction, and filled high offices. He became United 
States District Judge, Chief-Justice of the State Supreme Court, 
and for six years after 1798 was United States Senator. In 1816 
he was appointed Professor of Law in Middlebury College, His 
death occurred at Tinmouth February 13, 1843. 

Moses Cleaveland, 

Captain-Lieutenant , Continental Sappers and Miners. 

Of Canterbury, Windham County, Conn., where he was born 
January 29, 1754. Like a number of other students of his own 
and other classes, he entered the service before his Senior year 
closed, and without loss of his graduation degree. He joined 
the Second Connecticut Continental Regiment, Col. Charles 
Webb, as Ensign, to rank from January i, 1777. During the 
Burgoyne campaign he served under Putnam on the Hudson 
below Albany, and late in the fall of the year was ordered to 
Washington's army in Pennsylvania. His regiment took part in 
the sharp affair of White Marsh in December, 1777, and soon 
after, on the 25th of the month, Cleaveland was promoted First 




Roll of Honor, 329 

Lieutenant. His regiment then went into camp at Valley Forge, 
and in June, 1778, was present at the battle of Monmouth. In 
the summer of the following year he was transferred from his 
command, and received further promotion as indicated in the fol- 
lowing order dated Headquarters in the Highlands, August 
31, 1779: ". . . Lieut. Cleaveland is appointed Capt.- 
Lieut. in the corps of Sappers and Miners vice Little, resigned." 
He joined the corps September ist, with commission dated Au- 
gust 2, 1779. With this he continued about two years, and then 
resigned June 7, 1781. 

Returning to Canterbury, Captain Cleaveland practised law, 
became a member of the Assembly, and Brigadier-General of 
Militia. In 1796 he was appointed superintendent of the Con- 
necticut Land Company, which had purchased the " Western Re- 
serve " in Ohio, and early in October of that year the survey of 
the site of the present city of Cleveland was completed. The 
place was named in his honor. The General then returned 
home, and died there November 16, 1806. Member Connecticut 
Cincinnati Society. 




Samuel Cogswell, 

Lieutenant, Continental Army. 

Son of the Rev. Dr. James Cogswell, of Scotland Parish, Conn., 
and brother of Dr. Mason Fitch Cogswell, noted early in the 
present century as a physician at Hartford, both graduates of the 
college. Samuel was born May 23, 1754. He first appears in 
the service, with commission dated July i, 1777, as First Lieu- 
tenant in Col. H. Jackson's "additional," afterwards Sixteenth 
and Ninth Massachusetts Continental Regiment, which wintered 
at and near Valley Forge in 1777-78. The regiment was closely 
engaged at Monmouth in June following, and again in the battle 
of Rhode Island August 29th. In that State it remained for over 



330 Yale in the Revobdion. 

a year, being posted at camps "Graves Hill," "Newtown," 
" Kingston," etc. It started to relieve the Penobscot expedition 
in August, 1779, but returned, and after a brief stay at Castle 
Hill, Boston harbor, it again marched to Washington's army, and 
wintered at the Morristown huts, 1779-80. In June, 1780, it was 
engaged at the battle of Springfield, N. J., and then marched with 
the army to the Highlands. In July, 1781, Cogswell appears as 
Adjutant of detached companies at West Point, and by Mc- 
Dougall's garrison orders of September 4th he was appointed 
Brigade-Major of a temporary brigade under Col. M. Jackson. 
Late in the following year, November 12, 1782, he was appointed 
Deputy Judge- Advocate, and held the office for several months. 
By consolidation of regiments he was transferred from the Ninth 
to the Seventh, and on June 16, 1783, was assigned to the Fourth, 
with which he remained till the final discharge of his brigade 
toward the close of the year. He may have been present at the 
evacuation of New York, November 25, 1783. On his way home 
he stopped at Stamford to visit his brother. Surgeon James Cogs- 
well, who on December 19th wrote to his father as follows : 

"This will be delivered by my brother Samuel, whose company we have 
been favored with some time. It must be very pleasing to you to see him again 
after so long absence, returning from the dangers that attend a military life, un- 
sullied with the vices that accompany it, and as one who has had a share in the 
arduous task of successfully opposing one of the most potent nations in the 
world, and in procuring peace and independence. P'or my own part, I view 
him with a kind of respect, mixed with fraternal affection, gratitude, and love." 

After the war Cogswell went into business with his classmate 
Selden at Lansingburgh, above Troy, N. Y. He was killed while 
out hunting, August 20, 1790, by the accidental discharge of a 
gun in the hands of one of the party. His widow married his 
classmate, Ebenezer Fitch, afterwards first president of Williams 
College. Some of his war letters appear in the Cogswell gen- 
ealogy. Member Massachusetts Cincinnati Society. 



z:^ 



^>i2^^-r* -f^^s/^-X^-e-^^^^ 




Roll of Honor. 331 

Eli Curtiss, 

Lieutenant, Continental Army. 

A native of Plymouth, Conn. After the war he practised law 
at Watertown, and was the first member of the profession to settle 
there. According to a memorial, signed by himself, on file in the 
Hartford Archives, he joined the Eighth Connecticut Continental 
Line — Col. Chandler's — as Sergeant-Major, April lo, 1777. He 
served with it at Germantown, Valley Forge, and Monmouth. On 
November 17, 1777, he was promoted Ensign, and at Valley Forge 
he was again promoted Lieutenant, April 21, 1778. This rank he 
held until December 4, 1779, when he resigned. He is said to 
have lost an arm in the service, but he makes no mention of this 
in the memorial referred to. His death occurred at Bristol, 
Conn., December 13, 1821. 

James Davenport, 

Commissary of Supplies, Connecticut . 

Fourth son of Hon. Abraham Davenport, class of 1732, and 
brother of Maj. John Davenport, class of 1770 ; born at Stamford, 
Conn,, October 12, 1758. Towards the close of his Senior year, 
or May 30, 1777, young Davenport was appointed by Gov. Trum- 
bull and his Council, an " Issuing Commissary of Supplies for the 
Connecticut troops in Continental service." In this capacity, 
with the rank of Major, he made himself useful both in and out 
of the State. The details of his service are meagre, but it was 
probably of the same character as that of Commissary Flint, of 
the class of 1773. One item is preserved in the following note he 
received from Gen. Greene, then Quartermaster-General of Wash- 
ington's Army, dated Camp near Fredericksburg, N, Y., November 
9, 1778 : " Sir — With this you will receive an appointment as 
deputy quartermaster-general for the special purpose of providing 
for and conducting the British prisoners, lately commanded by 
General Burgoyne, and the guards attending them, from New 
England to Virginia." 

Inheriting his father's talents and spirit, Major Davenport 
afterwards became prominent in civil life, serving in both houses 
of the Connecticut Legislature, acting as Judge of Common Pleas, 
and elected to the House of Representatives in 1796. He was 



332 Yale 171 the Revohttion, 

also a member of the Commission in 1789 to make a treaty with 
the Wyandot and other Indians for the purchase of the Connecticut 
Western Reserve Dr. Dwight says of him : " His life was without 
a stain ; and in his integrity, candor, and justice his countrymen 
placed an absolute reliance. With these qualifications, it will not 
be a matter of wonder that at an early period of his life he was 
employed by the public in an almost continued succession of 
public business : or that he executed every commission of this 
nature honorably to himself and usefully to his country." He 
died August 3, 1797. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 

John De Peyster Douw, 

Commissary, New York. 

A native of Albany, N. Y., where he was born January 25, 1756. 
In his obituary notice he is mentioned as having been " an officer 
in the Commissary Department of the Army in the campaign of 
1777 against Burgoyne." He used to speak, in his lifetime, of 
the skirmish of Moses Creek, near Saratoga, in which he took 
part. Mr, Duow lived to an advanced age, filled offices of trust, 
and was universally respected. His death occurred at Albany, 
February 22, 1835. 

William Edmond, 

Volunteer. 

Afterwards Judge Edmond, of the Supreme Court of Connecti- 
cut ; born in Woodbury, now South Britain, September 28, 1755. 
His only military service was rendered incidentally, but with 
spirit, on the occasion of Tryon's raid to Danbury, in the spring 
of 1777. He appears to have been at home at the time. Hearing 
of the enemy's approach, he hurried forward and joined in the 
running fight of April 27th, during which he fell severely wounded. 
Defending himself bravely, he escaped capture, but was obliged 
to remain helpless in the field all the following night. Respecting 
the wound, from which he suffered until 1781, he says in his jour- 
nal : " The thigh bone near the knee-joint was entirely broken off 
in two places about three inches apart, the intermediate bone 
divided or split lengthwise in three pieces. Three pieces were 
extracted, together with about one third of an ounce ball, which 



Roll of Honor. 333 

was wedged between them. These pieces the doctor retained as 
a trophy of his surgical skill." 

Studying law, Edmond settled in Newtown, Conn., and opened 
an office in the house of Gen. John Chandler, whose daughter 
Elizabeth he afterwards married. In 1797 he was elected Mem- 
ber of Congress, serving two terms, and then appointed Justice of 
the Supreme Court of the State, which position he retained until 
1819. He died at Newtown, August i, 1838. A full and appreci- 
ative sketch of Judge Edmond may be found in Cothren's " An- 
cient Woodbury," Vol. I., p. 434, from the pen of the late Gov. 
Henry Button, of New Haven (Y. C, 1818). 

Samuel Hopkins, 

Volunteer Surgeo7i, Naval Service. 

A native of Hadley, Mass.; born October 31, 1756. He settled 
as a physician at Newbury, Vt., but in 1782, as we have the record, 
he sailed as Surgeon of a " Letter of Marque " bound to the West 
Indies and Holland. While at Martinique he died of yellow 
fever July 11, 1782. His service was incidental, as he seems to 
have intended to leave the vessel on its arrival in Holland and 
continue his medical studies abroad. 

Solomon Pinto, 

Ensign, Continental Army. 

Born at New Haven, and one of three brothers, Abraham, 
Solomon, and William, who entered Yale. Abraham did not 
graduate, possibly because he was wounded at the time New 
Haven was invaded by Tryon. Solomon with the others turned 
out as a volunteer on the occasion, and a family tradition is to the 
effect that he was taken prisoner and sent to England. However 
this may be, he was at New Haven in the following year, when he 
joined Washington's army. 

According to the Cincinnati records, his service began 
March 18, 1780, as Ensign in the Seventh Connecticut Line, Col. 
Heman Swift. He seems, however, not to have been formally 
assigned to duty by division orders until October 17th, following. 
(See sketch of Eb. Daggett, class of 1778.) The army was then 
in the Highlands. A year later young Pinto was detached to take 
part in Tallmadge's expedition against Fort Slongo, L. I., which 



JO' 



Yale in the Revolution. 



was skilfully surprised and carried on October lo, 1781. He re- 
tired from the service at the general disbandment in June, 1783. 
He died in 1824. Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 



William Pinto, 

Volu7iteer. 

Native of New Haven, and brother of preceding. At the time 
of Tryon's invasion of New Haven, July 5, 1779, young Pinto 
served with his brothers as a volunteer. When his brother 
Abraham was wounded, as stated above, he took him on his horse 
and carried him out of danger. Later in the war he was on duty 
at Fort Trumbull, New London Harbor, and upon the landing of 
Arnold's expedition on the morning of September 6, 1781, was 
despatched with the news to Gov. Trumbull. In after life he 
became an extensive West India merchant, and lived to an ad- 
vanced age. His death occurred at New Orleans in 1847. 

Charles Selden, 

Adjutant, Continental Army. 

Fourth son of Col. Samuel Selden, of Hadlyme, Conn., who 
died a prisoner of war in New York in October, 1776. His de- 
scent from Thomas Selden, one of the first settlers of Hartford, is 
noticed in the sketch of his cousin, Capt. Ezra Selden, class of 

1773- 

Charles Selden was born at Hadlyme, November 23, 1755. 
With his classmates. Barker and Cogswell, he joined Col. Henry 
Jackson's "additional" Continental Regiment, which subsequently 
became the Sixteenth, and again, by consolidation, the Ninth, 
Sixth, and Fourth of the Massachusetts Line. It was recruited 
mainly in Boston and marched to the field in the latter part of 
September, 1777. Selden was commissioned Second Lieutenant, 
to rank from July ist of that year. The regiment joined Wash- 
ington's army, then in Pennsylvania, and during the following 
winter and spring it was encamped at Valley Forge and vicinity. 
Upon the abandonment of Philadelphia by the enemy in June, 
1778, the regiment was ordered forward to guard the city, but in 



Roll of Honor. 335 

a few days joined the army, which had moved out from Valley 
Forge, and took an active part in the battle of Monmouth on the 
28th. It was closely engaged, as appears from the evidence at 
Lee's trial, and no doubt Selden was with it at the time, as we 
find him on the march soon after to Rhode Island, where he was 
again in the thick of battle on August 29th, under Sullivan and 
Lafayette. Remaining in Rhode Island for about a year, the 
regiment, in August, 1779, hurried to the relief of the ill-fated 
Penobscot expedition, but, returning, encamped for a short time 
on Castle Island, Boston harbor, and then joined Washington's 
army in New Jersey. During the winter of 1779-80 it encamped 
at the Morristown huts. Meantime Selden was promoted First 
Lieutenant, March 15, 1779, and from December of that year 
until September, 1780, was Acting- Adjutant of the regiment. In 
June, 1780, he engaged in the battle of Springfield, N. J., and 
thereafter served to the close of the war with the main army in 
the Highlands. On May 31, 1782, while encamped at the " New 
Boston " huts, near West Point, he received further promotion, as 
appears from the following note of that date : 

" vSiR : — I request that Lt. Chas. Selden, of the 9th Mass. Regiment, maybe 
appointed (in orders this day) Adjutant of said Regt. vice Capt.-Lt. Clap pro- 
moted, to be obeyed and respected accordingly. 

" I am, etc., 

" Henry Jackson, 
" To Gen. Heath. Col. 9th Massachusetts." 

During 1782-83 Jackson's regiment was encamped at Ver- 
planck's Point, Newburgh, West Point, and other places on the 
Hudson. When the Massachusetts Line was finally reduced to 
four regiments in the summer of 1783, the Ninth became the 
Fourth, and on June i6th Selden was reappointed Adjutant. 
With this he remained until the close of the year. The Fourth 
Regiment formed part of the force that occupied New York City 
upon its evacuation by the enemy, but Selden's order-book indi- 
cates that he had lately received a furlough and was absent. His 
long and active services, however, were not at an end, for upon 
the organization of a new regiment to serve from January i to 
July I, 1784, to guard West Point, Selden again accepted the 
Adjutancy, and remained with the command until its muster out 
as the last infantry corps of the old Revolutionary army. 



336 Yale in the Revolution. 

Soon after leaving the service, or in the fall of 1784, Selden 
went into business with his classmate, Cogswell, at Lansingburgh, 
above Troy, N. Y. (firm name, " Cogswell & Selden "), and be- 
came prosperous and influential. In 1803 he was appointed one 
of the Regents of the University of New York, in 1804 went to 
the Assembly, and from 1808 to 181 1 sat in the State Senate. 
He died at Troy, January i, 1820. Member of Massachusetts 
Cincinnati Society. 




Thomas Young Seymour, 

Captain, Continental Dragoons. 

Eldest son of Col. Thomas Seymour, class of 1755 ; born at 
Hartford, June 19, 1757. He was commissioned, January 10, 
1777, Lieutenant in the Second Regiment, Continental Light 
Dragoons, under Col. Sheldon, and soon after entering the field 
was ordered to report with his troop of horse to Gen. Gates in 
the Northern Department. That he was active in the campaign 
against Burgoyne may be inferred from his letter on page 79, 
written, as he says, " under arms," on the lines " advanced of 
Stillwater." From papers in the Pension Bureau, it also appears 
that after the surrender he was detailed to escort Burgoyne to 
Boston, and that from the captive General he received a saddle 
and brace of pistols as a token of regard. Trumbull, the painter, 
introduces Capt. Seymour on horseback in his picture of the sur- 
render. There is also a miniature of him in the Yale Art Gallery, 
Trumbull collection. He remained in the service about a year 
longer, resigning November 23, 1778. 

After the war Seymour practised law at Hartford, became 



. Roll of Honor. 337 

Major of the Governor's Foot Guards there, and filled several 
offices of public and private trust. He died May i6, 1811. 
Member Connecticut Cincinnati Society. 

Nathan Haynes Whiting, 

Adjutant, Continental Army. 

Son of Col. Nathan Whiting (Y. C, 1743), of New Haven, and 
a descendant, upon his mother's side, of John Haynes, first Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut ; born at New Haven, November 6, 1759. 
His father was a distinguished officer of the French war, present 
at the capture of Louisburg. 

Whiting entered the service early in 1780, by joining Col. S. B. 
Webb's Continental Regiment, then commanded by Lieut.-Col. 
Huntington — the following letter best explaining his first connec- 
tion with it : 

"Camp Steen Rappie, 7th Sept., 1780, 

" 5 miles North from Hackinsack. 
"Sir: 

" I would beg Liberty to recommend Mr. Nathan Haines Whiting for an 
Ensigncy in the gth Connecticut Regiment — he is a young Gentleman of family 
& Education, & hath serv'd some time as a Volunteer in the Regt. His En- 
signcy to bear date from the gth day of April last. The small number of offi- 
cers in the Regiment makes it necessary that his appointment should be made 
as soon as Possible, as your Excellency will see by the enclos'd Return of 
officers. 

" I am, with the Greatest Respect and Esteem, 

' ' Your Excellency's Most Ob'- and very Humble Servant, 

" Eben. Huntington, 
" Lieut.-Col. Comdg- gth Conn. Regt. 
" His Excellency, Gov. Trumbull." 

Whiting received this appointment, and on February 10, 1781, 
was again promoted as Lieutenant in Webb's regiment, then the 
Third Connecticut. In June following he joined Col. Scammell's 
Light Infantry Corps, with which he marched to Virginia and 
participated in the capture of Yorktown. While there he acted 
as Adjutant of Lieut.-Col. Huntington's battalion of Infantry. 



33^ Yale in the Revohttion, 

Returning to camp in the Highlands, he continued in service un- 
til January i, 1783. 

Settling in West Hartford, Whiting practised law, held local 
office, and served several terms in the Legislature. He died Sep- 
tember 16, 1801, Member Connecticut^Cincinnati Society.* 

Class of 1778. 




Joel Barlow, 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental Army. 

The well-known early American poet, political writer, and di- 
plomatist ; born at Redding, Connecticut, March 24, 1754. It is 
said that during his college course, when studies were temporarily 
suspended in the fall of 1776, he joined Washington's army as a 
volunteer, and took part in the battle of White Plains, October 
28th. After graduation he devoted himself to literature and 
poetic composition, and gained the favorable notice of such wits 
and writers of the time as Dwight, Humphreys, Trumbull, and 
others. It was to Humphreys that Barlow was partly indebted 
for his appointment as Chaplain in the army, as the following ex- 
tract of a letter from the former to Gen. Greene goes to show : 

" Hartford, May 23, 1780. ... I cannot but feel myself under great 
obligations to you for the generous concern you are pleased to take in Mr. Bar- 
low's affairs. There is one way in which I think he might be serv'd effectually, 
and in a manner reputable to himself and beneficial to the Public. I mean by 
having him appointed a Chaplain to some vacant Brigade : for tho' he is not in 
orders at present, he would, I am well assured from his character and some 
other circumstances, qualify himself for the office immediately, accept the ap- 
pointment with cheerfulness, perform the duty with dignity, and have leisure 
enough to prosecute his favorite pursuits. The Rhode Island and 4th Mass. Bri- 
gades, I am informed, are vacant." 

Chaplain Abraham Baldwin, of Parsons' Connecticut Brigade, 
also interested himself in the matter, and the result was the ap- 
pointment of Barlow to the chaplaincy of the Fourth Massachu- 

' Thomas Ives, of this class, afterwards a man of some note in Berkshire Co. , 
Mass., is said to have served short terms during the Revolution. 

William Little was possibly the Issuing Commissary of his name from Leba- 
non, Conn. He was at Valley Forge and other places. 

Samuel Morey, of Norton, Mass., is stated to have been Surgeon some time 
during the war. 



Roll of Honor. 359 

setts Brigade, formerly General Learned's, but then commanded 
by Col. John Bailey. Barlow thus succeeded Chaplain David 
Avery, class of 1769, who had resigned in March previous. Dur- 
ing 1781-82 the brigade was the Third Massachusetts. The 
young poet rapidly fitted himself for his new position by a partial 
course in theology, and joined the army on September 2, 1780, 
near Paramus, N. J. Camp life and associations proved congenial 
to him, especially as he found much time to indulge his favorite 
pursuit. He preached once a Sunday, his fourth effort being what 
he describes as " a flaming political sermon, occasioned by the 
treachery of Arnold," and which, as he was afterwards informed, 
did him " great honor." He was invited at an early day to dine 
with General Greene, who stood high with the army, reputed, as 
he says, " the second character on the continent." Washington 
also extended him a similar invitation ; and after the occasion he 
wrote to Miss Ruth Baldwin, the lady to whom he was engaged : 

' ' How do you think I felt when the greatest man on earth placed me at his 
right hand, with Lord Stirling at his left, at table ? I graced the table with a good 
grace, and felt perfectly easy and happy. There were many gentlemen there. 
You must allow me a little vanity in these descriptions, because the scenes are 
new. Since the preaching of my sermon upon the treason of Arnold and the 
glory of America, several gentlemen who did not hear it, and some who did, 
have been to read it. They talk of printing it. Colonel Humphreys has made 
me promise to loan him the plan and the first book of my poems to read at 
head-quarters. He and many other friends pay me particular attention." 

Barlow remained in the army to the close of the war. He 
thereafter acquired celebrity at home as the author of the " Co- 
lumbiad," " Hasty Pudding," and other effusions. Still later he 
went abroad, figured during the French Revolution, and in t8ii 
was appointed Minister to France by Madison, but did not live 
to render the diplomatic service to the United States he hoped to. 
While on a journey to Wilna to meet Napoleon, he died somewhat 
suddenly at Zarnowicke, near Cracow, Poland, December 24, 181 2.* 
Member Massachusetts Cincinnati Society. 




t<l-flp^ 



' In the recently published " Life and letters of Joel Barlow," by Mr. Chas. 
Burr Todd, will be found a number of interesting and valuable letters written 
both to and by him during the Revolution. 



340 Yale in the Revohction. 

Ebenezer Daggett, 

Ensign, Continental Army. 

Youngest son of President Daggett, and brother of Lieut. 
Henry Daggett, class of 1775. He was appointed, July 26, 1780, 
Ensign in the Seventh Connecticut Line, and formally assigned to 
duty in division orders as follows: " Totoway, Oct. 17, 1780. 
Messrs. Ebenezer Dagget and Solomon Pinto (Y. C, 1777), having 
been appointed Ensigns in the 7 th Regt. by the Governor and 
Council of the State of Connecticut, they are to do duty and to 
be obey'd and respected accordingly." Early in February, 1781, 
he was detached to serve in Colonel Gimat's Light Infantry Bat- 
talion, and under Lafayette experienced the hardships and suc- 
cesses of his Virginia campaign against Cornwallis. He was 
doubtless in the affair of Green Spring in July of that year, and 
through all the operations of the siege and victory of Yorktown. 
Unhappily he was attacked by the small-pox, and died at the 
Head of Elk, Maryland, on the way home, November 20, 1781. 

Frederick William Hotchkiss, 

Volunteer. 

Son of John Hotchkiss, class of 1748, who was killed during 
Tryon's New Haven raid. The college record states that he 
acted as aid to the officer commanding the New Haven militia 
(probably Col. Sabin) on the same occasion, July 5, 1779. Two 
of his uncles, as well as his father, were killed on that day. Mr. 
Hotchkiss was afterwards long pastor at Saybrook, Conn. He 
died March 31, 1844. 

Nathan Leavenworth, 

Surgeon s Mate, Continental Army. 

Youngest of the Leavenworth brothers who entered the Revo- 
lutionary service (see Jesse Leavenworth, class of 1759) ; born at 
Waterbury, Conn., December 11, 1761. Studying medicine after 
graduation, he joined the Eighth Massachusetts Continental Regi- 
ment, Col. M. Jackson, as Surgeon's Mate, with commission dated 
February i, 1780. He retained this position until the last of the 
army was disbanded, in December, 1783, and was then reappointed 



Roll of Ho7wr. 341 

in the new American Regiment, which continued in service at 
West Point until July, 1784. His regiment belonged to Washing- 
ton's main army on the Hudson. In the fall of 1784 he went to 
the Cheraw District, S. C, but returned to Waterbury in 1793, 
and died there January 9, 1799. Member Massachusetts Cincin- 
nati Society. 

Noah Webster, 

Volunteer. 

Young Webster, the future lexicographer, was one of the many 
volunteers who fell into line with the Connecticut militia ordered, 
in August and September, 1777, to reinforce Putnam on the 
Hudson or Gates at Saratoga during the Burgoyne campaign. 
His father and two brothers were in the service at the time. The 
regiment Webster marched with joined Putnam above Peekskill, 
and was moving northward with his force when the news of Bur- 
goyne's surrender reached them. The late Pi'of. Chauncey S. 
Goodrich mentions this fact in his sketch of Webster in Vol. H. of 
the American Literary Magazine, and adds : " They were met by 
a courier waving his sword in triumph and crying out as he passed, 
' Burgoyne is taken ! Burgoyne is taken ! ' It was perhaps the 
most eventful crisis of the war. An army of British regulars had 
for the first time surrendered to a body of undisciplined Conti- 
nental troops, and well might every American who had shared in 
the conflict, or who was hastening to meet its foe, exult in such a 
victory. Mr. Webster, even in old age, could never speak of it, 
or of his feelings as the shout of the courier rang through the 
ranks of the regiment, without a strength of emotion which was 
often expressed by tears." Webster's own reference to this ser- 
vice appears on p. 77, and on p. 13 may be found an interesting 
extract from one of his early addresses, describing Washington's 
first visit to Yale and his reception by the students. Born at 
Hartford, October 16, 1758 ; died at New Haven, May 28, 1843. 



342 Yale in the Revolution. 

Oliver Wolcott, Jr., 



Volunteer. 



Afterwards Secretary of the Treasury under Washington and 
Governor of Connecticut. Son of General and Governor Oliver 
Wolcott, class of 1747 ; born at Litchfield, January 11, 1760- 
Like young Edmond of the previous class, he turned out as a 
volunteer on the occasion of Tryon's Danbury raid in April, 
1777, and took part in the movements with the militia. In the 
summer of 1779 he acted as Aide-de-Camp to his father, who then 
commanded on the western border of the State, and at a later 
period was appointed a State Commissary. On July 20, 1779, 
Gen, Parsons invited him to join the Continental army, as appears 
from the following note of that date to Gen. Wolcott : '* In 
arranging our Line, a number of Ensigns are vacant. If your Son 
is willing to accept one of these vacancies, I shall be happy in 
having it in my power to gratify the inclination of the Son of so 
worthy a father. I am determined to have these offices filled by 
young Gentlemen of Spirit and Learning, to make the army re- 
spectable, or leave them vacant " (Wolcott " Memorial "). The 
father replied that he preferred to have his son continue his law 
studies which he had lately taken up. After his civil career he 
resided in New York, where he died June i, 1833.* 

Class of 1779. 



Jeremiah Gates Brainard, 

Ensign, Continental Army. 

Afterwards Judge Brainard, of New London, Conn. He be- 
longed to the family of Brainards (or Brainerds) identified with 
the settlement of East Haddam, where he was born July 28, 1759. 
He was appointed, July 26, 1780, Ensign in the Seventh Regi- 
ment Connecticut Line, Col. Heman Swift, but did not remain 

' In his pamphlet on Pittsfield, Mass., Rev. Dr. Field states that Thomas 
Gold, of this class, was for several months Secretary to Gen. Putnam in 1777. 
The General then commanded on the east side of the Hudson. 

Edmund Foster, of the same class, native of Reading, Mass., is said to have 
engaged in the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775. He was then a Sopho- 
more, and may have been at home at the time. Afterwards pastor at Littleton, 
Mass. 



Roll of Honor. 343 

in service beyond the month of April, 1781. Rev. Dr. Field 
states that he was employed on detached duty " principally in at- 
tending to the accounts of the Connecticut Line at the War 
Office in Philadelphia." Returning home, Brainard studied law 
with Col. Dyar Throop, class of 1759, at East Haddam, and then 
settled at New London, He was Representative, Mayor of the 
city, and from 1806 to 1829 Judge of the Superior Court. He 
died January 7, 1830. 

Elizur Goodrich, 

Volunteer. 

Afterwards member of Congress, Judge, and Mayor of New 
Haven ; son of Rev. Dr. E. Goodrich, class of 1752, born at 
Durham, Conn., March 24, 1761. He took an active part against 
the enemy when they invaded New Haven on July 5, 1779, turn- 
ing out with his fellow students and fighting until he was wounded. 
After the British occupied the town, a soldier entered the house 
where Goodrich Had retired to have his wound dressed and be- 
gan to abuse him. Notwithstanding his condition, young Good- 
rich seized the soldier, drove him to the wall, and handled him with 
such energy and hostile intent that the fellow begged for mercy 
and went off. Goodrich settled at New Haven as a lawyer, be- 
came Judge of the County Court, served as a Representative to 
Congress from 1799 to 1801, and was Ma}'or from 1803 to 1822. 
His account of Tryon's invasion and Pres. Daggett's capture ap- 
pears in the text with events of 1779-80. He was the father of 
the late Prof. Chauncey A. Goodrich of Yale College. 

William Seymour, 

Volunteer. 

Younger brother of Capt. Thomas Y. Seymour, class of 1777 ; 
born at Hartford, December 28, 1758. It appears that he was 
with his uncle. Col. Wm. Ledyard, at the time Arnold attacked 
New London in September, 1781, and was one of the sufferers of 
the Fort Griswold " massacre " on the Groton side. While assist- 
ing in the defence of the fort he fell terribly wounded. His case 
was reported upon by a Legislative Pension Committee in Janu- 
ary, 1783, as follows : "William Seymour, of Hartford, a volun- 



344 Yale in the Revolution. 

teer in the fort, was wounded by a musket ball which entered into 
and passed through the joint of the knee, fracturing and breaking 
the bones in such manner as that the greatest part of the sub- 
stance of the knee joint separated and issued out. In this condi- 
tion he, for about three weeks, suffered the most severe pain and 
distress. When no other means could be thought of to save his 
life, amputation was performed and his limb taken off about half- 
way between the knee and body, and after a long, languishing 
confinement he is restored to a considerable degree of health, 
though wholly disabled from performing any considerable exer- 
cises or following any considerable business." (Allyn's Battle of 
Groton Heights.) He is also said to have received thirteen 
bayonet wounds after being shot as described. Although crippled 
for life, Seymour eventually was able to engage in business in 
Hartford, and lived to an advanced age. He died, unmarried, at 
Bloomfield, Conn., December 20, 1843.' 

Class of 1780. 

John Barnett, 

Brigade Chaplain, Continental Army. 

Rev. Mr. Barnett was Chaplain in the Massachusetts Line for 
about eight months during the year 1782. He evidently suc- 
ceeded Rev. Enos Hitchcock, graduate of Harvard, in the chap- 
laincy of the Second Brigade of that Line, so that all the 
Massachusetts chaplains were at that time graduates of the col- 
lege — the other two being Messrs. Barlow and Lockwood. Mr. 
Barnett is said to have injured his voice permanently by open-air 
preaching in camp, and thereafter was not a settled pastor for any 
length of time. From 1790 to 1795 he was at Middlebury, Vt. 
He was a native of Windsor, Conn.; died at Durham, N. Y., 
December 5, 1837, aged eighty-four, being at the time a Revo- 
lutionary pensioner under the act of 1818. 

' William Baldwin, of this class, was recommended in July, 1780, by Col. 
Meigs, of the Sixth Connecticut, for a position as Ensign in his regiment, but 
he does not appear to have accepted, no such name being on the rolls. Meigs 
says : ' ' Mr. Baldwin is a young gentleman belonging to Branford, lately gradu- 
ated from Yale College." 



Roll of Honor. 345 

William Fowler, 

Ensign, Continental Army, 

A native of East Haddam, Conn. ; born September 27, 1761 ; 
the youngest son of Rev. Joseph Fowler, of the class of 1743, 
Congregational pastor at that place. This branch of Fowlers 
came of Windham County ancestry. 

The Ensign's career was brief — a year's service. He received 
his appointment February 27, 1781, and was assigned to the Fifth 
Regiment, Connecticut Line, under Colonel Sherman. The regi- 
ment took part in Washington's feint upon New York in the sum- 
mer of that year, remained on the Hudson under Gen. Heath 
during the Yorktown campaign, and wintered at camp " Connecti- 
cut Village," above Peekskill. There young Fowler was taken 
sick, and died on or about February 28, 1782, The Hartford 
Courant of March 5th following says of him : " Died of the small- 
pox, at camp, last week. Ensign William Fowler, of East Had- 
dam. He was a gentleman of a liberal education, and much 
esteemed by all his acquaintance." 

w^NEAS MUNSON, 

Surgeon's Mate, Continental Army. 

Dr. Munson was the son of Dr. ^neas Munson, of the class of 
1753, who for many years in the last and present centuries was a 
practising physician in New Haven, and President of the Medical 
Society of Connecticut ; born September 11, 1763. Very soon 
after graduation, or September i, 1780, Munson was commissioned 
Surgeon's Mate in Col. Swift's Seventh Connecticut Continental 
Line. During the winter of 1780-81 his regiment was hutted with 
the Connecticut Division on the Hudson, opposite West Point. 
In June following he was detached to assist Surgeon Thacher, of 
the Massachusetts Line, in Col. Scammell's Light Infantry corps, 
which, after engaging in one or two sharp skirmishes in West- 
chester County, marched in August with the army to Yorktown, 
Va. There it took a leading part in the siege, and in after life Dr. 
Munson had many incidents to tell of the operations and surren- 
der. Returning north he rejoined his regiment, which in 1781-82 
was the Fourth Connecticut, under Col. Butler, with Dr. Timothy 



346 Yale in the Revolution. 

Hosmer as Chief Surgeon. Remaining in the Highlands, he 
served until the disbandment in June, 1783. 

After the war Dr. Munson practised medicine at New Haven 
nearly as long as his father, and is remembered by the older resi- 
dents of the place. He died August 22, 1852. Member Con- 
necticut Cincinnati Society. 

Jabez Huntington Tomlinson, 

Ensign, Continental Army. 

A native of Stratford, Conn. ; born about 1760. During his 
Junior year he met with an experience which is said to have de- 
cided him to enter the service. The New Haven journal of 
June 9, 1779, reports it as follows : 

"One night last week a party from L. I. landed at Old Mill in Stratford, 
and plundered the house of Mr. Joseph Lewis of a considerable sum of money, 
all the clothing, linen, etc., and went off with their booty, taking with them a 
young man named Tomlinson, a member of Yale College, who was there on a 
visit." 

Tomlinson, who lived to an advanced age, used to recall this 
incident to residents of Stratford still living. The capture oc- 
curred on the night of May 31st, when the party in question took 
him to a British man-of-war in the Sound, whose captain treated 
him civilly, but who obliged him to proceed to New York to 
secure his release or exchange. It was several weeks before he 
was exchanged, and upon his return he resolved to enter the 
army. He was appointed Ensign of Col. S. B. Webb's Continen- 
tal Regiment April 5, 1780, and was one of the officers on guard 
at Major Andre's quarters during his captivity and trial. It was 
to Tomlinson that the unfortunate Major presented the pen-and- 
ink sketch of himself now preserved in the library of Yale Col- 
lege. The Ensign remained in service until May i, 1781, when 
he resigned and returned to Stratford. He died there, a respected 
citizen, January 14, 1849.' 

' Erastus Pixley, of this class, resident of Great Barrington, Mass., is stated 
to have been one of the students who volunteered to march against the enemy 
on July 5, 1779, when New Haven was invaded. He died May 31, 1795. 



Roll of Honor. 347 

Class of I'jZi. 

Simeon Baldwin, 

Volunteer. 

Afterwards Judge Baldwin of the Supreme Court of Connecti- 
cut ; also Mayor of New Haven in 1826. He was a brother of 
Chaplain Ebenezer Baldwin, class of 1763, and was born at Nor- 
wich, December 14, 1761. At the time of Tryon's invasion of 
New Haven, July 5, 1779, he turned out as a volunteer with other 
students and took part in the day's skirmishing, especially near 
" Neck Bridge," over Mill River. After the war he settled as a 
lawyer at New Haven and filled important offices. From 1803 
he served one term as a Representative in Congress, and subse- 
quently the positions mentioned above. His death occurred May 
26, 1851. 

The following graduates rendered service before entering college : 

Class of ijZi. 



Samuel Hinckley, 

Massachusetts Service. 

He was a native of North Brookfield, Mass.; born Dec. 22, 
1757. Entering the service in 1776, probably with a Massachu- 
setts regiment, he took part in the battle of White Plains, Oct. 28th, 
of that year, and was wounded. He was a grandson of Gov. Thomas 
Hinckley, of Massachusetts. For forty-six years he filled the 
office of Register and Probate Judge ; died at Northampton, June 
15, 1840. 

Class of 1782. 



Payson Williston, 

Volunteer. 

Son of Rev. Noah Williston, class of 1757. He took part in the 
skirmishing on July 5, 1779, when New Haven was invaded. 
Speaking of the day's experiences, he says, in Sprague's "Annals ": 
" It was my lot to mingle in that scene as a member of the Artillery 
Company who opposed the British who landed on the West side 



348 Yale in the Revolution, 

of New Haven harbour ; and I distinctly remember the Presi- 
dent's [Daggett] coming up and addressing to us patriotic and 
earnest words, bidding us go on and fight, &c. ; and he rushed 
along himself, and very soon after came near paying for his 
patriotism with his life. This was a few months before I entered 
College." Williston studied for the ministry, and was for many 
years pastor at Easthamptom, Mass., where he died January 30, 
1856, in the ninety- third year of his age. 

Class of 1786. 

William Stone, 

Soldier, Conti7iental Army. 

A native of Guilford, Conn. He served three years in the 
Continental army, having enlisted as a soldier in Capt. Stephen 
Hall's company, of Col. Swift's Seventh Connecticut Line, June 8, 
1777. With this regiment he engaged at the battle of German- 
town, October 4, 1777, wintered at Valley Forge, and was present 
also at Monmouth, June, 1778. After that until his term of service 
expired, June 8, 1780, he was with the army on the Hudson- 
He appears also to have served in 1776, as he is said to have 
taken part in the battle of White Plains, in October of that year. 
Entering college after the war, he graduated in 1786, studied for 
the ministry, and devoted most of his life to missionary work in 
New York. He died at Sodus, N. Y., March 20, 1840, aged 
eighty-three.' 

Class of 1788. 



Daniel Waldo, 

Soldier, Connecticut Service. 

Rev. Daniel Waldo, at the time of his death the oldest graduate 
of the college, was born at Windham, Conn., September 10, 1762. 
In 1778, before entering college, he was drafted for a month's 
service at New London, and subsequently enlisted in State levies 
for eight months. He was taken prisoner near New York and 

' Hon. Stanley Griswold, of this class, is mentioned as having been a lieu- 
tenant in his father's company before he entered college. 



Roll of Honor, 349 

confined in the Sugar House, where he suffered greatly. Studying 
for the ministry, he was settled at West Sufifield for eighteen years 
after 1792, and for shorter periods elsewhere. He lived to an 
advanced age. A noteworthy event of his life was his appoint- 
ment as Chaplain of Congress in 1856, and again in 1857, when he 
was ninety-four and ninety-five years old. " His faculties were 
unimpaired throughout his long life, and his last sermon was 
preached after he entered on his one hundred and second year." 
He died at Syracuse, N. Y., July 30, 1864. 



SUMMARY. 



Total number of graduates included in " Honor-Roll," with biographical 

notices ............ 196 

Number mentioned incidentally or in notes, of whose record no details 
have been found, but who, without much doubt, rendered service 
of some kind ........... 38 

Total 234 

Addenda. 

Rev. Benjamin Pomeroy, p. 182, was Chaplain of Col. Wyllys' Third Con- 
necticut Line from January i, 1777, to July i, 1778. 

Capt. Nathaniel Webb, p. 211, states in a memorial that he served through 
the year 1776, before joining the Continental Line. 

Joseph B. Wadsworth, p. 250, was full Surgeon of Col. Sherburne's " addi- 
tional" Continental Regiment, raised partly in Connecticut, from Sept. i, 1777, 
to Jan. I, 1781. 

Dr. Isaac Knight, p. 252, was one of the Guilford volunteers who started 
towards Boston on the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775. 

Rev. Benjamin Boardman, p. 213, appears as Chaplain of Capt. Comfort 
Sage's " Troop of Horse " from Middletown, in the Lexington alarm. 

Capt. William Coit, p. 226, was Captain of one of the New London compa- 
nies in the Lexington alarm. 

, Rev. Elisha Atkins, class of 1773, is stated to have served as Chaplain ; pastor 
at N. Killingly. 

Rev. Samuel Austin, class of 1783, is mentioned as having rendered some 
service during the Revolution. 

Commissions, Dates, etc, 

Giles Russell, pp. 201 and 202, was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourth Con- 
necticut, Col. Durkee, not the Eighth, before becoming Colonel of the latter. 



350 Yale in the Revolution, 

The commissions of Eben. Huntington, p. 308, as Lieutenant-Colonel and 
of John P. Wyllys, p. 298, as Major, were finally made to date from October 
10, 1778, instead of 1780. 

Discrepancies will doubtless be found between the dates of a few of the ap- 
pointments and commissions given in the biographical sketches and the dates as 
given in some official rolls and papers. In certain cases the dates of officers' 
commissions were changed, and in one case we have three dates for the same 
commission. This was due to conflicting claims, and in the above honor-roll 
the last or most authoritative date has been followed. 




INDEX. 



Abbott, Henry L., Gen., on Bush- 

nell's torpedo, 56, 307 
Abel, Elijah, Capt., 39 ; biog., 223 
Adams, Andrew, Lieut.-Col., biog., 

224 
Alden, Roger, Aid-de-Camp, 66, 78, 

84, 90, 93 ; biog., 282 
Andre, Maj., 53, 54 ; Tallmadge's 

letters on, 125; pen and ink portrait 

at Yale, 346 
Arnold, Benedict, mentioned, 29, 30, 

71, 79, 122, 123 ; Tallmadge on, 

125, 270 
Ashley, John, Judge, mentioned, 212 
Ashley, John, Jr., Col., 68 ; biog., 212 
Ashley, Moses, Maj., 14, 39, 59, 66, 

77, 85, 144 ; biog., 250 
Atkins, Elisha, Rev., mentioned, 349 / 
Austin, Samuel, Rev., mentioned, 349 
Avery, David, Brigade Chaplain, 14, 

39, 59, 68 ; biog., 257 



B 



Babcock, Gamaliel, mentioned, 300, n. 
Babcock, Henry, Col., 16, 32 ; orders, 

33, 34; biog., 203 
Babcock, James, Lieut.-Col., 16 ; 

biog., 205 
Babcock, Joshua, Gen., 5, 22 ; biog., 

177 
Babcock, Luke, Rev,, mentioned, 98 
Babcock, Stephen, Maj., biog., 225 
Baldwin, Abraham, Brigade Chaplain, 

7, 68 ; biog., 275 
Baldwin, Ashbel, mentioned, 326, n. 
Baldwin, Ebenezer, Chaplain, 38, 62 ; 

biog., 232 
Baldwin, Isaac, mentioned, 304, n. 
Baldwin, Simeon, Hon., biog., 347 
Baldwin, William, mentioned, 344, n. 
Ballantine, Ebenezer, Surgeon's Mate, 

biog., 327 



Barber, Francis, Lieut.-Col., of 

Princeton College, 137 
Barker, John, Lieut., 67, 84, 93 ; 

biog., 327 
Barker, Samuel Augustus S., Capt., 

39, 48, 50, 66, 132 ; biog., 276 
Barlow, Joel, Brigade Chaplain, 39, 

68 ; biog., 338 
Barnett, John, Brigade Chaplain, 

biog.. 344 
Bartlett, Nathaniel, Rev., biog., 199 
Beebe, Lewis, mentioned, 275, n. 
Beers, Isaac, Washington at his house, 

13 
Belden, Ebenezer Porter, Capt,, 10, 

67, 73; biog., 305 
Belden, Thomas, Col., mentioned, 

203, n. ; 305 
Bellamy, Jonathan, Lieut., 39, 62 ; 

biog., 277 
Benedict, Abner, Chaplain, 38 ; biog. , 

257 
Benedict, Amos, biog., 300 
Bird, Jonathan, Surgeon, biog., 252 
Bissell, Hezekiah, Capt., biog., 228 
Boardman, Benjamin, Chaplain, 16, 

24 ; biog., 213 ; 349 
Bogue, Aaron Jordan, Chaplain, biog., 

300 
Bowen, Jabez, Col., 69 ; biog., 210 
Bradley, Philip Burr, Col., 37, 38, 40, 

57. 65, 71. 74. 84; biog., 213 
Bradley, Stephen Row, Capt., 39, 70; 

biog., 305 
Brainard, Jeremiah G., Ensign, biog., 

342 
Brockway, Thomas, Chaplain, 38 ; 

biog., 252 
Brooks, Thomas, Rev., mentioned, 

208, n. 
Brown, John, Col., 4, 26-28; letter, 

29; 68, 80, 81, 123 ; biog., 268 
Brownson, Nathan, Surgeon, biog., 

225 
Buckminster, Joseph, Rev., 7, 268, n/ 



351 



352 



Yale in the Revolution. 



Burghardt, Hugo, mentioned, 212, n. 
Burgoyne, Gen., campaign of, 73, 77 ; 

graduates present, 77, 78 ; letters 

from them, 78-82 ; Capt. Seymour 

and, 336 
Bushnell, David, Capt., 10, 39, 55, 56, 

100, 136, 199 ; biog., 306 



Camp, Abiathar, denounced in class 

meeting, 11 
Champion, Judah, Chaplain, 38 ; 

biog., 201 
Chandler, John, Col., 37, 38, 48, 56, 

65, 74, 84, III ; biog., 218 
Chapman, Jedidiah, Chaplain, 38 ; 

biog., 229 
Chastellux, Marquis de, and French 

officers visited by Pres. Stiles, 122, 

123 ; on Col. Peck, 316 
Chester, John, Col., 10, 15-17 ; letter, 

18 ; 20-22 ; letter, 31 ; 35, 37, 38, 

40, 45, 46, 49, 56, 59 ; letter, 61 ; 

biog., 247 
Chipman, Nathaniel, Lieut., 11, 66, 

78, 84, 85; letter, 86 ; 90 ; biog., 

328 
Cleaveland, Ebenezer, Chaplain, 38 ; 

biog., 196 
Cleaveland, John, Chaplain, 16, 38 ; 

biog., 190 
Cleaveland, Moses, Capt., 66, 78, 85 ; 

biog., 328 
Clinton, Sir Henry, Stony Point ope- 
rations, 101-6 ; and Arnold, 125 ; 

attempted capture of, 127 
Cogswell, Samuel, Adj., 67, 84, 90, 

93 ; biog., 329 
Coit, William, Capt., 16, 17, 32, 39; 

biog., 226 ; 349 
Colt, Peter, Dep. Com. Gen., 67 ; 

letters, 95-98 ; biog., 237 
Congress, Continental, votes Wooster 

a monument, 72, 180 ; honorable 

mention of Tallmadge, 126 ; of 

Hull, 131 ; votes Humphreys a 

sword, 137 
Cooke, Joseph Piatt, Col., 38, 71 ; 

biog., 200 
Craft, Ebenezer, Capt., 16; biog., 

219 
Cumming, John N., Maj., of Prince- 
ton College, 137 
Curtiss, Eli, Lieut., biog., 331 
Cutler, Manasseh, Chaplain, biog., 

241 



D 



Daggett, Ebenezer, Lieut., 133 ; 

biog., 340 
Daggett, Henry, Lieut., 10 ; biog,, 

308 ; Henry D. (Y. C, 1771), 275, n. 
Daggett, Naphtali, Pres., 7, 10, 

106-8 ; biog., 197 
Danielson, Timothy, Gen., 14 ; biog., 

209 
Davenport, Abraham, Judge, men- 
tioned, 262 
Davenport, James, Asst. Com., 67 ; 

biog., 331 
Davenport, John, Maj., biog., 262 
Deane, Silas, Hon., mentioned, 28 
Dickinson, Israel, Capt., 4, 28, 68; 

biog., 214 
Douw, John De Peyster, 69; biog., 

332 
Dwight, Timothy, Brigade Chaplain, 

vi., 7, 68; address on Washington, 

156-60 ; biog., 257 



E 



Edmond, William, 69, 71 ; biog., 332 
Eells, Samuel, Capt., 39 ; biog., 241 
Elderkin, Bela, Lieut. Marines, 39 ; 

biog., 251 
Elderkin, John, 16, 39, 59, 66, 247, n, 
Elderkin, Vine, Capt., 39, 66 ; biog., 

233 
Ely, Samuel, Volunteer, 68 ; biog,, 

239 
Everett, Noble, Rev., mentioned, 320, 
n. 



Fanning, Edmund, Loyalist, 98 ; let- 
ter, 109 

Fanning, Phineas, mentioned, 262, n. 

Fitch, Ebenezer, mentioned, 8, 9, 
69, n. 

Fitch, Jonathan, Col., 95 ; biog., 197 

Fitch, Thomas, Col., notice of, 194, n. 

Flint, Royal, Asst, Com., 39, 59, 67, 
84 ; letters, 1 14-16 ; biog., 283 

Foster, Edmund, mentioned, 342, n. 

Fowler, Samuel, mentioned, 256, n. 

Fowler, William, Ensign, biog., 345 



Gates, Gen., mentioned, 24; Bur- 
goyne's Campaign, 77-82 ; letters 



Index. 



353 



on, 86, 88 ; Gen. Scott to, 82, 89 ; 
Col. Colt to, 96, 97 ; 310, 316 
Gay, Fisher, Col,, 16, 34 ; letter, 35 ; 

37, 38 ; 40, 45, 62 ; biog., 219 
Gold, Thomas, mentioned, 342, n. 
Goodell, Jesse, Rev., 225, n. 
Goodrich, Elizur, Hon., Volunteer, 

biog., 343 

Graham, Chauncey, Rev., as physi- 
cian, 196, n. 

Graham, John A., Dr., mentioned, 6, 
196, n. 

Grant, Roswell, Capt., biog., 242 

Gray, Ebenezer, Lieut. -Col., 16-18, 

38, 48, 66, 67, 74 ; letter, 127 ; 
biog., 234 

Greene, Gen., 23 ; on Col. Hitchcock, 
40, 63 ; instructions to Gen. Pater- 
son, 84 ; battle of Springfield, 117- 
19 ; Humphreys' reference to, 120, 
272 ; Barlow's, reference to, 338, 

339 
Griswold, Stanley, Hon., mentioned, 

348, n. 
Grosvenor, Thomas, Lieut. -Col. Com., 

16-18 ; letter, 19 ; 37, 38, 46, 52, 

59, 66 , biog., 242 



H 



Hale, Nathan, Capt., 16, 37, 39, 40, 

48 ; compared with Andre, 52-55, 

62 ; biog., 286 
Hall, Lyman, signer of Decl., 6, 

41, 42 
Hamilton, Alexander, Lieut, -Col., of 

Columbia College, 137 
Hamlin, Jabez, Capt., 15, 39, 62 ; 

biog., 260 
Harmar, Gen., defeat of, and Maj. 

Wyllys, 163-71 
Hart, John, mentioned, 275, n. ; see 

Heart. 
Hart, Josiah, Surgeon, 16, 38 ; biog., 

229 
Hart, Levi, Rev,, mentioned, 225, n, 
Hawley, Joseph, Hon., 4; on inde- 
pendence, 42-44 
Heart, Jonathan, Maj., 16-18, 39, 

46, 50, 56, 78, 132, 163-73 ; biog., 

252 
Heath, Gen. William, mentioned, 

23, 24, 62, 130-32, 143 ; orders, 243; 

310 
Hedges, Jeremiah, mentioned, 240, n, 
Hillhouse, James, Capt,, 39, 69, 106 ; 

biog., 290 



Hillyer, Andrew, Capt., 16, 39, 6g ; 
biog., 263 

Hinckley, Samuel, biog., 347 

Hitchcock, Daniel, Col., 16, 24, 37, 38, 
40, 41, 45, 47, 59-61, 63 ; biog., 226 

Hobart, John Sloss, Judge, men- 
tioned, 6 

Hopkins, Daniel, Rev., mentioned, 
215, n. 

Hopkins, Mark, Col., 4, 38, 62 ; 
biog., 215 

Hopkins, Samuel, Surgeon, biog., 333 

Hotchkiss, Frederick William, Volun- 
teer, biog., 340 

Hotchkiss, John, Volunteer, 108 ; 
biog., 198 

Howe, Eleazar Williams, Volunteer, 
biog., 320 

Hull, William, Lieut.-CoL, 16, 37. 
39, 40, 48, 56 ; letter, 59 ; 65, 84, 
90, 102-5, 129-32, 136, 137, 148; let- 
ter, 149 ; 243 ; biog., 278 

Humphreys, David, Aid-de-Camp, 38, 
51, 66, 67, 78 ; letter, 117-20 ; 127, 
136 ; letter, 153 ; biog., 271 

Huntington, Ebenezer, Lieut. -Col., 
9, 10, 16, 22, 38, 46, 66, 78, 93, 
109, no ; letter, 113 ; 117, 137 ; 
biog., 308 ; 350 

Huntington, Jabez, Hon., 9 ; biog., 
187 



Independence, Declaration of, gradu- 
ates among signers, 41 ; Joseph 
Hawley on, 43, 44 ; Pres. Stiles on, 
41, n. 

Ives, Thomas, mentioned, 338, n. 



Johnson, Stephen, Chaplain, i6, 24, 

38 ; biog., 190 
Jones, Thomas, Judge, Loyalist, 99, 

100 
Judd, William, Capt,, 66, 78, 165 ; 

biog,, 235 
Judson, David, Capt,, 10, 66, 74 ; 

biog., 311 
Judson, Ephraim, Rev., mentioned, 

236, n. 



K 



Kent, James, Chancellor, mention of 
Gen. Scott, 6 ; notice of Pres, 



;54 



Yale in the Revolution. 



Stiles, 194 ; of Chaplain Eben. 

Baldwin, 232, 233 
Keyes, Stephen, Capt., 39 ; biog., 291 
Kingsbury, Sanford, Capt., 69 ; biog., 

237 
Knight, Isaac, Surgeon, biog., 252 ; 

349 



Lafayette, Marquis de, Virginia cam- 
paign, 132 ; graduates with him, 
133 ; Capt. Welles' letters, 133-35 

Laurens, John, Lieut. -Col., of South 
Carolina, 137 

Leavenworth, Jesse, Capt., 15, 16 ; 
biog., 221 

Leavenworth, Mark, Dep. Adj. -Gen., 
38, 71 ; biog., 274 

Leavenworth, Nathan, Surgeon, 149 ; 
biog., 340 

Lee, Andrew, Chaplain, biog., 248 

Lee, Charles, Gen., at New Haven, 
13 ; at Cambridge, 23 ; Lt. Selden 
on, 92 

Lee, Elisha, mentioned, 212, n. 

Lewis, John, Tutor, mentioned, 7 

Lewis, Ichabod, Rev., mentioned, 244 

Lewis, Isaac, Chaplain, 38 ; biog., 244 

L' Hommedieu, Ezra, Hon., men- 
tioned, 6 

Little, William, mentioned, 67, 338, n. 

Little, Woodbridge, mentioned, 214, 
215 

Livingston, John, mentioned, 5 

Livingston, Peter Van Brugh, men- 
tioned, 5 

Livingston, Philip, Signer of Dec'l, 5, 
6, 41, 42, 48 

Livingston, William, Gov., 5, 37, 38, 
40, 44, 57 ; letter, 120 ; biog., 188 

Lockwood, James, Maj., i6;biog., 249 

Lockwood, William, Brigade Chap- 
lain, 68 ; biog., 301 

Lyman, Daniel, Aid-de-Camp, 10, 38, 
66 ; biog., 320 

Lyman, William, 68 ; biog., 322 



M 



McDougall, Gen., at Germantown, 

74; mentioned, 96 
Marvin, Elihu, Adj., 66, 84; biog., 292 
Mather, Moses, Rev., mentioned, 

189, n. 
Mills, Samuel, Lieut., 67, 73 ; biog., 

322 



Mix, John, Lieut., 10, 66, 78, 85 ; 
biog., 312 

Montgomery, Richard, Gen., on Col. 
John Brown, 28 ; Wooster's refer- 
ence to, 30 

Morey, Samuel, mentioned, 338, n. 

Morris, James, Capt., 10, 39, 48, 66 ; 
journal, 74, 137 ; journal, 138 ; 
biog., 312 

Morris, Lewis, Signer of Dec'l., 6, 37, 
41, 42 ; biog., 191 

Moseley, Ebenezer, Capt., 15, 17,69; 
biog., 237 

Muirson, Heathcote, Volunteer, 98, 
126 ; biog., 323 

Mumford, Paul, Dep. Gov., men- 
tioned, 4 

Munson, .^neas. Surgeon, 137; biog., 

345 
Munson, Theophilus, Capt,, 16, 39, 
48, 66, 74, 85, 102-4 ; biog., 255 



N 



Newell, vSimeon, Capt., 16, 39, 46, 

50 ; biog., 314 
Newport, R. I., the Scarborough 

driven from, 34 ; Col. Babcock's 

conduct, 34 ; Pres. Stiles visits 

French officers at, 122, 123 
Nichols, William, Lieut., 39, 66; 

biog., 229 
Noble, Oliver, Chaplain, 16; biog., 

211 
Northrop, Amos, Lieut., 39; biog., 

230 
Northrop, Joel, Surgeon's Mate, biog., 

324 
Noyes, John, Surgeon, biog., 314 
Noyes, William, mentioned, 314 



Paddleford, John, Surgeon, biog., 255 

Parsons, Gen. Samuel H., mentioned, 

120; report on Hull's expedition, 

131 ; letter from West Point, 259, 

271 ; on Capt. Walker, 302 

Paterson, John, Gen., 4, 14, 18, 39^ 

59. 65, 77, 84, go; letter, 121; 

biog., 230 

Peck, William, Asst. Adj. -Gen., 10, 

16, 38, 46, 67, 93 ; biog., 315 
Peters, John, Loyalist, mentioned, 98 
Pinto, Abraham, mentioned, 333 
Pinto, Solomon, Ensign, biog., 333 
Pinto, William, Volunteer, biog., 334 



Inde. 



X. 



i55 



Pixley, Erastus, mentioned, 346, n. 
Plumbe, William, Brigade Chaplain, 

16, 39, 68 ; biog., 260 
Pomeroy, Benjamin, Chaplain, 38 ; 

biog., 182 ; 349 
Porter, John, Major, 66, 77, 84, 93 ; 

biog., 264 
Porter, Joshua, Lieut. -Col., 28, 6g, 

78 ; biog., 207 
Potter, Jared, Surgeon, 16, 38 ; biog., 

224 
Preston, Nathan, Com., 67 ; biog. 

324 
Putnam, Gen. Israel, at Bunker Hill, 
l8-20, 23 ; Dr. Stiles and, 24 ; 
mentioned, 78, 8r, 96, 120 



R 



Reed, John, Rev., mentioned, 282, n. 
Rice, Nathan, Maj., of Harvard, 137 
Rice, Nehemiah, Capt., 39, 66, 74, 85, 

102, 104 ; biog., 301 
Ripley, Hezekiah, Chaplain, biog., 

236 
Robbins, Ammi Ruhamah, Chaplain, 

39; biog., 224 
Rochambeau, and French officers, 

visited by Pres. Stiles, 122, 123 
Russell, Giles, Col., 37, 38, 48, 65, 

84, 90, no; biog., 201 ; 349 
Russell, Thomas, Surgeon, 39 ; biog., 

200 



Saltonstall, Gurdon, Gen., 38 ; biog. 

180 
Sampson, Ezra, Chaplain, biog. 

292 
Sanford, David, Chaplain, biog., 208 
Scammell, Alexander, Col. of Har 

vard, 137, 310 
Scott, John Morin, Gen., 6, 37, 38, 40 

letters, 48, 82, 89 ; biog. 192 
Seabury, Bishop, mentioned, 98 
Sedgwick, Theodore, Maj., 4, 31, 68 

biog., 244 
Selden, Charles, Adj., 67, 84, 90, 93 

149; biog., 334 
Selden, Ezra, Capt. 16, 39, 46, 50, 66 

80 ; letters, 87-91 ; 102-4 ; biog 

292 
Selden, Samuel, Col., mentioned, 293 

334 
Sessions, Darius, Dep. Gov., men- 
tioned, 4 



Seymour, Thomas, Lieut. -Col., 38 ; 

biog., 208 
Seymour, Thomas Young, Capt., 67, 

77 ; letter, 79 ; biog. 336 
Seymour, William, Volunteer, biog., 

343 
Shepard, David, Dr., mentioned, 

249, n. 
Sherman, Isaac, Lieut. Col. Com., 

14; letter,- 24; 37, 38, 40, 59, 65, 78. 

84, 90, 102-5; letter, 104; no, 

131 ; biog. 265 
Sherman, Roger, Hon., mentioned, 

265 
Sherman, William, Lieut., biog., 268 
Sill, Elisha, Surgeon, 69; biog., 207 
Sill, Richard, Maj., 10, 16,39,46, 50, 

66, 74; letter, 148 ; biog., 317 
Silliman, Gold Selleck, Col., 37, 38, 

40 ; letter, 45 ; 51, 56, 69, 71, 78 ; 

letter, 81 ; 144 ; biog., 205 
Skinner, Thos., Surgeon, biog. 232 
Smith, Cotton Mather, Chaplain, 16 ; 

biog., 203 
Smith, William, Judge, mentioned, 5 
Southmayd, William, Rev., men- 
tioned, 225, n. 
Spencer, Elihu, Chaplain, 68 ; biog., 

193 
Sproat, James, Rev., mentioned, 

189, n. 
Starkweather, Ephraim, Rev., 208, n, 
Starr, Ezra, Capt., biog., 302 
St. Clair, Gen., defeat of, and Maj. 

Heart, 171 ; mentioned, 310 
Steuben, Baron, Inspector-General, 
Selden's reference to, 88 ; compli- 
ments Webb's regt.and Maj. Hunt- 
ington, no; Livingston to, 120; 
mentioned by Paterson, 121, 122 
Stiles, Ezra, Pres., vi, 5, 7, 8, g ; 
diary, 22 ; 41 ; letter, 94 ; 108 ; 
diary, 122 ; letter, 139 ; biog., 194 
Stirling, Lord, Gen., appoints Sill his 
Aid, 148 ; death of, announced by 
Sill to Wash. 148 ; Barlow's men- 
tion of, 339 
Stoddard, Israel, mentioned, 214, 215 
Stone, William, Rev., Soldier, biog., 

348 
Storrs, Experience, Lieut. -Col., 16, 

18 ; diary, 20, 21 ; biog., 221 
Storrs, John, Chaplain, 38 ; biog., 210 
Strong, John, Capt., 68 ; biog., 249 
Strong, Joseph, Chaplain, biog., 200 
Strong, Nathan, Chaplain, biog,, 261 
Strong, Nehemiah, Prof, .mentioned, 7 



35^ Yale ifi the Revolution. 



Sullivan, Gen. John, mentioned, 23, 

92, 96 ; on Col. Peck, 316 
Swift, Jabez, mentioned, 232, n. 



Tallmadge, Benj,, Maj., 38, 46 ; ex- 
tract from memoirs, 49, 54, 56, 67, 
73, 124 ; letter, 125 ; 126, 142 ; let- 
ter, 145-47; biog., 295 

Taylor, Augustine, Lieut., 66, 74, 84, 
90; biog., 324 

Taylor, Nathaniel, Rev., mentioned, 
190, n.; 324 

Throop, Dyar, Lieut. -Col., biog., 

222 

Tomlinson, Jabez H., Ensign, 100 ; 
biog., 346 

Trumbull, Benjamin, Chaplain, i, 16, 
38 ; biog., 222 

Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan, men- 
tioned, 3, 94, 189 

Tuthill, Samuel, Lieut. -Col., biog., 
190 

W 

Wadsworth, James, 37, 38, 40, 48, 
69, 78 ; biog., 198 

Wadsworth, Joseph B,, Surgeon, 
biog., 250; 349 

Waldo, Daniel, Rev., Soldier, biog., 
348 

Wales, Samuel, Rev., mentioned, 
252, n. 

Walker, Joseph, Capt., 66, 78, 93 ; 
letter, 113; biog., 302 

Walker, Robert, Capt., 16, 38, 67 ; 
biog.. 245 

Washington, Gen., reviews the Yale 
Company, 12, 13 ; mentioned in 
Storrs' diary, 21 ; Nathan Hale 
and, 54 ; Lieuts. Chipman and Sel- 
den on, 86, 88 ; capture of Stony 
Point, 101-6 ; on death of Russell 
and promotion of Sherman, no, 
III ; Humphreys' letter to, on the 
battle of Springfield, 118 ; appoints 
Humphreys his Aid, 119; on Tall- 
madge, 126 ; opinion of officers, 
130 ; on Hull, 132 ; at Yorktown, 
129, 134-9, 259; LL.D. conferred 
on, and Pres. Stiles' letter to, 139, 
140 ; reviews troops, 141 ; Welles' 
letters, 141, 142 ; Tallmadge's third 
L. I. expedition and, 145 ; Hum- 
phreys from Mt. Vernon, 153-56; 



Dwight's eulogy, 156-60; to Wol 

cott, 195 ; Barlow and, 339 
Watson, James, Capt., 39, 59, 66 ; 

biog., 325 
Wayne, Gen., and storming of Stony 

Point, 103-5 ; 119 
Webb, Nathaniel, Capt., 66, 74, 85, 

102 ; biog., 211 ; 349 
Webb, Samuel B., Col., mentioned, 

19, 66, 92, 93, 106, 109, 144 
Webster, Noah, Volunteer, 12 ; on 

Washington and the College Com- 
pany, 13 ; 69, 77, 95 ; biog., 341 
Welch, Whitman, Chaplain, biog., 

232 
Welles, Benjamin, Com., 67 ; biog., 

318 
Welles, Noah, Chaplain, biog., 189 
Welles, Roger, Capt,, 10, 66, 93, 127, 

132 ; letters, 133-35-42 ; I44. I45 ; 

biog., 318 
West, Jeremiah, Surgeon, 66; biog., 

303 
West, Nathaniel, mentioned, 256, n. 
Whiting, Nathan Haynes, Lieut., 

137 ; biog., 337 
Whiting, Samuel, Surgeon, 16 ; biog,, 

246 
Whittlesey, Chauncey, Col., 95; biog., 

240 
Wildman, Benj. Rev., mentioned, 

213, n. 
Williams, Elisha S., 39 ; biog., 319 
Williams, Samuel William, Capt,, 66, 

78, 93 ; letter, 139; biog., 281 
Williston, Payson, Rev., 108 ; biog., 

347 

Winslow, Shadrach, Surgeon, biog. , 274 

Woodbridge, Dudley, Minute-man, 
249, n. 

Woodbridge, Enoch, Capt., 16, 38, 
68 ; biog., 304 

Woodbridge, Joshua Lamb, Capt,, i6, 
68 ; biog., 297 

Woodbridge, Samuel, Rev., men- 
tioned, 236, n, 

Wolcott, Oliver, Gen., 38, 41 ; let- 
ters, 57, 58 ; 69 ; letter, 78 ; biog., 

195 
Wolcott, Oliver, Jr., 69, 71; biog., 342 
Wooster, David, Gen., 15, 28 ; orders, 

30, 31, 38, 65, 69-71 ; letter, 72 ; 

biog., 183 
Wooster, Thomas, Capt., 38, 66, 70, 

78, 93 ; biog., 256 
Wyllys, Hezekiah, Lieut-Col., 38, 46; 

biog., 246 



2719SD 



Index. 



357 



Wyllys, John Palsgrave, Maj., i6, 38, 
48, 50, 66, 93, no, 132, 133, 137, 
140, 142 ; letters, 143 ; 163-71 ; 
biog., 298 ; 350 

Wyllys, Samuel, Col., 16, 28, 37, 38, 
40, 45, 46, 65, 78 ; biog., 217 

Y 

Yale College, ancestry of alumni, vi.; 
distribution of, 1-7 ; Lexington 



alarm at, 8-10 ; the Students' Com- 
pany, 13, 14 ; studies interrupted, 
69, n. ; notice from the Steward, 
93 ; supply of flour for, 94, 95 ; 
students dismissed, 108, n.; Col. 
Fanning intercedes for,' 109; cele- 
brates the Yorktown surrender, 138, 
139; confers degree of LL.D. on 
Washington, 139 ; Washington on, 
139. n- 















,^^^^ 



,^^ <5. 






.'^'^ ;4i^'=/"--^^^ r''-^'-'^^,^^ r'-'^^^'K^ :^^'>.4 

























<^' 



Ot' * 



'^c % ,A^ 



^-.0 <<^' 



< 









'' \# 



v^ 



■"''^f^ 



^^^0^^ -^y7^.^\^ ^^^^^SJ" ^^'-'^TTs^aO^ 

c^o^^.^ cP^o::i:'^.% c^o^^.% y^^^ 



9' v^l^'/^^ 

^ -A -O.^ ^ ft ^^ -A -CU* _ ft 's; ^ -^ Ji-^ r^ ft C^ -A Ji^ ^ » « » 








*^' % •, 





,' -. •„^. >; 




"< "^.o^ 







L^ 








^^ "' ftftS^ A< 



^ J^ 



\^ ,;4|^^-%^ ^^^:'^<^' "^^^^"^^ 



v^ .- 







'-'^'^^ ^''^^.i;^'^"^'^ ^^''J^S> ^^^r^S^ • o<\: 















^<^ . « 



^ 






c?^^:^^% cP^v^_i;i:-.% ^°^:i^;^^% 










V ^ ^ * " A -^ 












* ^' ^ 



%„.# 







w^- 



